The Newest Brain
by hoibastos
Summary: Ash has been left by those he called friends. Fate has him meet up with an old acquaintance. A tournament is being held welcoming the newest Frontier Brain. The ones who left him will be there. Will those that betrayed him be ready for what's coming? Shipping is Ash x Cynthia. First Fic
1. Chapter 1

"normal speech"

'Thought'

'Telepathy'

Chapter 1

A young man stood upon Mt silver . He was 6'2' and had black spiky hair. He was wearing a black cloak over his clothes. Which was a sleeveless white and red jacket with a black shirt and pants. He was also wearing white and red shoes. To top off his appear a Pikachu sat on his shoulder. In front of him a Steelix and two Golem were in front of him, attempting to stare him down. This young man known as Ash Ketchum was unfazed by the looks being sent his way. As if there was some sort of signal, the pokemon attacked. He reached towards his belt and uttered one word.

"Gardevoir." A white bipedal Pokémon with a lower body resembling a slim gown with a green underside. It has white legs underneath the gown, and green hair that curls down the sides of its head. But Ash's was different. Instead of the spots being green, they were blue. Indicating that it was a shiny.

As soon as the light shined forth, the three pokemon in front of the man stopped moving. Surrounded by a bright blue light, the three were flung and laid down with swirls in their eyes.

 _'What are we doing here Ash?'_ The Gardevoir spoke in his mind.

 _'Picking up an old friend'_ Ash though back as he put his fingers to his lips. A whistle came from it. As the trainer and pokemon waited. A few moments later there a was a rumbling and a Tyranitar suddenly appeared, a fierce roar escaping his mouth as he eyed the trainer in front of him. The Tyranitar felt that this trainer was familiar in some way. His scent was somewhat off and he couldn't see his face due to the cloak he was wearing.

"Can't recognize me, huh?" Ash said with a small smile. To which Tyranitar shook his head in response. Ash let out a small laugh as he lowered his hood. The Tyranitar looked straight into Ash's auburn eyes. Tyranitar smiled and tackled the trainer to the ground. Said trainer was laughing as he stood back up. "I missed you too, you wanna come back with me buddy?"

Tyranitar looked at Ash, he suddenly jumped back and roared his name. At this Ash couldn't help but smile. He looked at Tyranitar and couldn't help but remember how he was when he was a larvitar. Completely different from how he is now.

"Gardevoir, you wanna take this one? You don't have to if you don't want." Ash said looking at his Gardevoir as she gave him a nod tell him she'll do it. "Tyranitar, you can go first."

Tyranitar roared and a sandstorm started to pick up.

 _'Gardevoir, be careful. That's his ability sand stream.'_ She nodded her head in reply. Suddenly a light blue beam shot from within the sand storm.

 _'Light Screen and fire a magical leaf.'_

A yellow barrier appeared in front of Gardevoir as the ice beam went though it damaging Gardevoir slighty. Her eyes glowed blue as the magical leaf shot into the sandstorm. Ash expected to hear a cry of pain but instead heard nothing.

 _'Gardevoir, do you know if that hit him?'_

 _'No, It didn't, I couldn't feel any resistance against the leaves.'_

Suddenly, Ash knew why he didn't hit him even though magical leaf isn't suppose to miss it's target.

 _'Gardevoir, teleport away from that spot now, and fire a thunderbolt at where you were standing.'_

Trusting her trainer she teleported away from where she was standing. Shortly after the ground where she was disappeared and a giant hole with a Tyranitar popping out took it's place. She reacted with a thunderbolt and hit the Armor pokemon in mid-air.

The pokemon roared in pain as electricity coursed through its body leaving it paralyzed. The pokemon attempted to use hyper beam but couldn't due to the shock it received. Seeing as it was time to end it Ash came Gardevoir a final command.

 _'Finish with focus blast.'_ Gardevoir put her hands together and a blue orb started to form. The moment the sphere had readied, she tossed it at Tyranitar. The armor pokemon could do nothing but close it's eyes and take the hit. But just when the sphere was about to hit, it was surrounded by psychic energy. Opening his eyes he watch as the sphere whipped past him and destroyed a nearby boulder. He looked back at Ash with an appreciative roar. Ash nodded in response and pulled out a pokeball and walked up to the armor pokemon. He touched Tyranitar with the pokeball and was sucked in, not even shaking once as the ball pinged in success. Ash smiled at the pokeball in his hand before calling out his Charizard.

"Hey buddy, take us back?" Ash asked. Charizard nodding his in understanding, Flew towards Kanto. As they flew Ash's mind wondered. 'Would I still be where I am now if that didn't happen...'

* Flashback *

Ash was on his way back from Unova after losing against one of his rivals, Cameron. He didn't think he'd lose considering he only had 5 out of the 6 pokemon on him. But that gave Cameron the advantage by making Ash lower his guard. His Riolu was strong enough and right when Ash though he pulled the win, it started to glow white. After that Cameron's Lucario proceeded to demolish the rest of Ash's team.

He was on his way back from Unova on a ferry. When he docked in Vermillion City, he felt negative emotions coming from the direction of his home town. With that feeling, he took out his Unfezant and flew to Pallet.

"Hey Pikachu, can you sense that?" Ash asked.

"Do you think something happened to your mom?" Pikachu replied with a worried look on the small mouse's face.

"Be ready for anything."

"Will do."

** Time Skip **

He had just landed on Route one, right outside Pallet. He ran towards his home feeling that negative energy get stronger the closer he approached. As he made it to his house he turned the knob on the door and flew inside. When he got there, Misty, Tracey, May, Max, Drew, Kenny, Dawn, Trip and Iris were all in the living room of Ash's home. Relieved at the fact his friends were here, he walked in with a smile on his face.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here? And where's mom?" Asked Ash. He noticed that his friends didn't look particularly happy and quickly caught on that something wasn't right.

"Ash, I speak for everyone here when we say we want you to give up on being a pokemon trainer." Misty started. Ash looked at her in disbelief as he thought he heard wrong. He looked around and noticed everyone in the room shaking their heads in agreement. At this Pikachu, was charging his electricity.

"Ash, not only are you not a good trainer, but you also but us at risk whenever we're near you. You don't seem to get better at battling and you get us involved with criminal organizations and several legendary pokemon. We barely come out alive in most of those encounters. Dawn Spoke out this time as she gave Ash a glare. Ash lowered his head and clenched his hands. Pikachu became even more pissed and the built up energy began to turn blue.

"You were the first trainer I battled. You lost to me in one versus one. My Snivy beat Pikachu even though you've had at least 3 more years of training pokemon the I do. On top of that, losing to a guy with one less pokemon then you is pathetic. Trip said. As he continued to put Ash down, a blue light started to surround Ash.

"You..." Ash started, as he lifted his head, his eyes started to glow a fierce blue colour. "I'LL SHOW ALL OF YOU, ALL OF YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO FEEL PATHETIC!" Ash yelled as aura shined so bright blinding all those in the area. When they opened their eyes, there wasn't a trace that anyone else had been here.

As Ash and Pikachu looked around, they noticed that they weren't at Ash's house anymore. They were on some path, where it was? Ash had no Idea. As Ash sat on the grass beside the path a small pokemon came out of a nearby bush. Ash pulled out his pokedex. He began to scan the pokemon. Dexter began to describe the pokemon.

"Ralts, the bipedal Pokémon. It has a white body. Its body and legs seem to resemble a nightgown or an oversized dress. Its green hair resembles a bowl cut. Ralts uses the horns on its head to read people and Pokémon's emotions. This Ralts is female."

'Why is a Ralts here? In Kanto, and a shiny one at that.' Ash thought as he was still trying to recover from the incident moments ago.

The pokemon looked at Ash. It noticed tears coming from his eyes and walked over and came one of his arms a big hug. Well as big as you can get from a 1 ft pokemon anyway. Ash just smiled at the small pokemon attempting to cheer him up.

"Hey would you like to come with me on my journey?" Ash said. "There's something I need to prove and I'd like you to help me with that." he continued has he presented a pokemon to the small pokemon. With a nod of her head it tapped that pokeball and was sucked in. A moment later a soft ping was heard indicating its capture. He smiled at the pokeball before deciding what his next path will be. He heard a vehicle coming up the path. As he looked at the driver's side he tried to see if he recognized the driver. As the jeep came closer the driver was easier to see. He was a short chubby man in a blue hawaiian shirt with white flowers on it. he wore light coloured shorts and sunglasses on top of his brown curly hair. He recognized this person. It was Scott, the owner of the battle frontier.

"Hey Ash." Scott greeted as he pulled over near the young trainer. "Is something the matter?"

"I don't feel like talking about it." Ash replied. Suddenly an idea popped in his head.

"Hey Scott, do you mind if i ask you something?"

* Flashback End *

Ash was slightly angered at the thought of that day. He learned to control most of the emotions that he felt that day. But still never completely getting rid of them. 'I'll deal with it when I get there.' Ash though. Already arriving at his destination.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Kanto

A woman sat upon a hill waiting for her Garchomp to come back from it's search. She has long blonde hair covering one of her gray eyes. wearing her usual attire. A black shirt with black pants and a black overcoat on top. She's been looking for a certain cap wearing boy with a pikachu on his shoulder. It's been years since he'd disappeared. She knew he was still alive but just couldn't find any evidence. She knew in her heart he was still out there, and when she finds him, she'll never let him leave her again. And possibly beat him for leaving her like this...

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of her Garchomps roar signalling her return. She landed in front of her with a frown on her face.

"Still can't find him, huh?" She said. A tear threatening to escape her sad gray eyes. Her Garchomp gave her a sad "Garrr" in response. Wiping the tear off her masters face. Cynthia gave her pokemon a quick thank you and recalled it for some rest. She got up to leave the area before looking over the hill to voice her last thought.

"Ash, where are you?"

 **Hey all, hope you enjoyed the story so far. I'll explain more as I go on but for right now let me know what you all think. All comments are excepted. If you have any suggestions let me know. Until the next. Peace.**


	2. Chapter 2

"normal speech"

'Thought'

'Telepathy'

Chapter 2

In a laboratory off the coast of Fushsia City, A pokemon sat in a tube, armor covering various parts of its body. A lab door opened revealing a man with an orange suit, his name is Giovanni. Accompanying him, were two men. These two were known as Maxie and Archie the leaders of Team Magma and Team Aqua respectively.

"This here is a Pokemon we created. We used the DNA of the legendary Pokemon Mew to create this powerful creature." Giovanni explained as he looked at the other two men staring intensely at his creation. Waiting until the two focused on him again he continued. "Mewtwo here, Thought it was a good idea to escape from us. Little did he know we always get our way." As he was explaining he lead the two men into the an elevator on the other side of the room. "I'll discuss what I called you two gents in for when we reach my office. The other two men shook their head in acknowledgement. As they reached the top of the building, the three leaders walked out. There was a room at the end of the hall. Once Giovanni lead them to his office, he sat at his desk and gestured the two to do the same.

"Okay, I speak for both of us when we say we were surprised you called us both in." Maxie started.

"You guys usually work by yourselfs, what's with the change of heart?" Archie continued.

"I see Straight to the point, I like that. I've seen the work both of you have done to try to capture legendary Pokemon. One who controls the sea, the other that controls land. Both of the leaders nodded their heads. What if I told you that if you work with team rocket I can create a clone of them. Similar to what I showed you gents in the lab. Both men were shocked at what they heard.

"All I need from you, is some sort of DNA from both Pokemon and I will be able to clone them." Giovanni continued. "They will be much stronger than the original."

"So, you're saying that if we team up with you, we'd be able to get our hands on Pokemon who can control the environment to Groudon and Kyorges extent?!" Maxie said in shock.

"That is exactly what I am saying." Giovanni replied.

"What do you want from us, A deal like that usually comes with a price." Archie stated as he had already gotten over his shock.

"Well of course, all I ask is the cooperation of both Team Magma and Aqua. Along with all the research both your teams have come with these past couple years." Giovanni explained as he looked at the two men in front of him. Both men appeared to be thinking hard about this. 'Just a little more and they should be mine' Giovanni thought.

"Think about it this way, your own legendary Pokemon under your control. With it you can rise above all else, rule the land and seas as you see fit and with Team Rocket we will guarantee the creation of these Pokemon!" Giovanni exclaimed raising from his seat. He offered both men a hand. "So, can I count on your cooperation gentlemen?" Both men took the hand offered to them. "Excellent." Giovanni smiled darkly.

 ***Scene Change**

Ash had just arrived at the place he called home. It was a huge building in the shape of a colosseum. He was glad Scott accepted him as one of his frontier brains. Looking at the place now, he couldn't help but remember the feeling he had when Scott told him this is where he'd be battling as a brain.

* **Flashback** *

 _"Are you sure Ash? Do you really want to give up travelling, because I don't think you're ready to settle down in a position like this." Scott said._

 _"Yes Scott, I've traveled for five and a half years now and I think wanna take a break from all that right now. There's also something else I want to do, which is prove that I'm not weak or pathetic." Ash replied a sort of fire glowing in his eyes. Scott looked at Ash once more before breaking out a smile._

 _"Okay then, Ash give me some time and I'll call you on your pokenav. I've planned out where you'll be battling but it's going to take a while for me to get it built. What are you going to do until then?" Scott asked as he looked at the young trainer in front of him._

 _"I'm going to train." Ash said. "I'm going to train so i'll never lose again. I'm going to be the head of the frontier brains after i'm done._

 _"I see." Scott's smile got even wider. He knew his Pokemon weren't ready to face Brandon even though Ash pulled the win in an official match. Brandon only used one of his Regi's and his other Pokemon were almost as strong. "Okay then Ash, I'll be off to create your facility. I'll call you when I finish, I'll see you then." With that he drove off leaving Ash and Pikachu alone._

 _"Ok buddy, you ready for some serious training?" Ash said as he started walking into towards a forest._

 _"Of course, we'll make them all think twice before insulting us" Pikachu said cheeks already crackling with electricity as they made the way into a the dense forest._

* **Time Skip** *

 _"Pikachu you excited to see what Scott made for us?" Ash said as he made his way towards the direction Scott told him to go. It has been a year and a half since Ash left to go train with his all Pokemon. He'd called Professor Oak whenever he needed a switch out his Pokemon. When the professor found out about what his so called friends did to him, he was quite upset. Ash was like a second grandson to him. Needless to say Ash was extremely thankful the person taking care of his Pokemon didn't think of him like that. Unlike his so-called friends. A honking sounds snapped Ash out of his thoughts as a Scott made his way over._

 _"Hey Scott." Ash said smiling down at the man in front of him._

 _"Ash!" The man exclaimed in front of him. " It hasn't even been two years and i'm looking up at you." Ash give him a smile as he and Pikachu hopped into the jeep as they made their way to his new facility._

 _After about fifteen minutes of driving, they were several miles north - northwest of Pewter City. When they arrived Ash's jaw hit the ground. There in front of him was a building the size of colosseum to hold hundreds of thousands of people._

 _"Scott... Is this really mine." Ash asked unable to say anymore. Scott gave him a laugh before explaining everything to Ash._

 _"Well technically, mine. But to answer your question, yes. This place will be known as the Battle Colosseum. Trainers will have to have at least five symbols in order to challenge you." Scott explained to the still shocked trainer._

 _"No offence at all, but why five?" Ash question confusion on taking over the shock on his face._

 _"Well you are our newest brain after all. I'd rather you have some battles going then having none at all. Think about if trainers had to defeat Brandon in order for you to get a battle." Scott said. Ash thought of him in a battlefield alone for weeks with nothing to do. Ash shuddered at the thought._

 _"See, terrible idea right?" Ash nodded in agreement. "There is something I should mention though." At this Ash turned his head towards Scott. "We've got a place here for all your Pokemon to be. But the problem is, I don't have anyone who can watch or treat them at all. They'd pretty much be here with no one to look after or feed them." Scott explained._

 _"So pretty much, If i want my Pokemon here with me at the colosseum, i'd need someone who can treat them if they get injured and someone who'll know what's best for the Pokemon's health. So like a breeder?" Ash asked as Scott nodded his head. It took a moment for Ash to think considering his situation a year and a half ago. But as the thought dawned on him a smile made it's way onto his face. "Don't worry about that Scott, I know just the person."_

* **Flashback End** *

He walked inside the colosseum and found all his Pokemon in the middle of training. He took a moment to observe all of them before wanting to get their attention. It didn't last as he heard a cry. He didn't have to know what Pokemon noticed him first because the answer made itself known when a pale green, sauropod-like Pokémon with yellow eyes tackled his trainer. Fortunately for Ash he had sent aura to his hands and feet. by doing so he was able to catch Meganium and not end up on the ground as a result.

"Hey Girl, how's your training coming along?" Ash asked has he when to rub her head. She cooed in response resulting in a small smile from her trainer. "That's good, I don't have to remind you all what happens when you skip out on training do I?" Ash said. The Pokemon shook her head rapidly in response. Ash just laughed at his Pokemon's antics before heading to the rest.

"Hey Ash, welcome back." A voice said behind him. He turned around and was met with his oldest travelling companion. "Did you get what you needed?"

"Oh, yeah I did. Thanks for reminding me. Tyranitar meet the gang." Ash shouted as he threw a pokeball from his belt. A light shined from the ball when it landed revealing the large, bipedal, dinosaur looking Pokemon. As Tyranitar roared he looked around. Recognizing some faces, he made his way towards them.

"So that's what you went all the way out there for." Brock said in recognition. He stared in awe at how big the Pokemon had gotten since he'd last seen him. "Anyways Scott told me he's been looking for you."

Ash turned around and looked at the breeder. A bit of confusion on his face. "Did he at least mention what he wanted?"

"No, he just said that when you get back to let him know he needs to speak with you." Brock explained. "Scott says he's at his hotel in Saffron City and wants you to meet him there."

"Alright, I'll talk to him on the phone later tonight, there's some things I've been needing to do today. But the way how are all the Pokemon doing?." Ash asked as he began walking towards his room. He gestured for the breeder to follow. Picking up the hint, Brock began walking in pace with Ash.

"They've been pretty good, you know just the usual. Sceptile and Infernape facing each other in several competitions they make against each other, your flying Pokemon racing each around the colosseum, Venusaur tending to the smaller Pokemon and Heracross harassing said Venusaur for the sap on his flower. Ash just shook his head at the mention of Heracross. Maybe he should talk to Heracross and his addiction to sucking on Venusaur's flower.

"By the way, She hasn't stopped looking for you you know." Brock Said has he looked at his friend how had gave him a short side glance before continuing to walk.

They made it to what appeared to a kitchen. Ash made his way in and started a kettle to prepare some tea for the both of them. After he did so he sat down at the table across from Brock.

"You know I can't let people know who I am yet." Ash started as he continued to explain to the breeder across from him. "I've been getting some information about team rocket starting something big and I can't let any others know who I am, I might put them in danger."

"I see. Does your 'special' Pokemon know about this?" Brock asked with his one of his brows raised.

"Only the one I carry with me at all times." Ash replied as he pulled a chain from underneath his shirt. A pokeball hung from the chain, swaying side by side. Instead of it being the normal red on top, the pokeball was purple with a white letter "M" on the front, with a pink circle on either side. "The others don't know because they've been busy."

"How so?"

"Brock you should know that they have jobs they must do to keep the world in check." Ash explained. If I kept them here for too long, there may be some noticeable changes in the world."

"Point taken."

As the he said this the kettle made a loud whistling sounds indicating the water was ready. Ash got up and made tea for both of them before sitting back down.

"Anyway's Brock do you mind doing me a favor?" Ash asked his long time friend.

"If it's in my power, I'll do whatever I can." Brock said in reply. At this Ash smiled.

"Do you mind helping me trade twenty-nine of my Tauros? I haven't been able to find time to do so."

"Once I check over your Pokemon, I'll be more then willing to help you out with that request. I'll go check on them now. How about you ask Scott why he called for you?" Brock said as he walked out the door towards all Ash's Pokemon were.

'All this time and it still amazes me how helpful he's been. I wonder what could of happened if I didn't reach out towards him back then.' Ash though as he made his way towards the video phone.

* **Flashback** *

 _Ash made his way to the video phone in his room. His room was great, it had the perfect view of the colosseum. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. Seconds later a man with spiky brown hair and slanted eyes appeared on the screen. The man's eyes went in shock noticing who was on the phone._

 _"Hey Brock." Ash said smiling at his oldest travelling companion._

 _"A-A-Ash" Brock managed to stutter out. "Where've you been? I was worried about you. Gary told me everything that happened. Where are you and are you okay? Ash came him a small smile. Right as it came it disappeared, he was now looking very serious in front of Brock._

 _"Brock there's a favor I need to ask of you, you can take your time on this." Ash said receiving a nod from the older trainer. "If you were given a chance to watch over and work with a bunch of Pokemon of various types would you do it?"_

 _"Well as a breeder, of course I'd do something like that. Where are you getting at?" Brock wondered._

 _"I'm getting to that. I'll make this short so you can have more time to think about this." Brock nodded. "I met up with Scott a year and half ago and I became his eighth brain. My facility is a colosseum. I'm able to have all my Pokemon with me. But that problem is I need someone to look after them and since i'll most likely be busy I won't be able to be with them for too long." Ash looked at Brock and noticed he was thinking. A few moments later Brock's face changed into a serious looking one._

 _"Am I getting paid for doing something like this? And will I be accommodated since I will be at your facility." Brock asked. " Because as much as I love helping Pokemon out, you do have a lot of Pokemon who tend to be a handful and as I will be there for a majority of the time there is nowhere else I can stay that's close to your facility." Ash the smiled at him before speaking._

 _"Brock you should know me by now. I'd never let my friends hard work go to waste. But to answer your question, yes there are plenty of rooms here in case Scott wants to run an event here. To answer your second request, yes Scott mentioned that you will be paid as this is facility and he couldn't get anyone else at the time, so anyone that I can get will be treated like an employee of Scott." Brock smiled before telling him he accepts._

* **Flashback End** *

Ash sat in front of the video phone. He dialed in Scott's number and waited. A couple rings later Scott appeared on the screen.

"Hey Scott." Ash Greeted.

"Ash!" Scott exclaimed. "I was wondering when i'd get the chance to talk to you." Ash nodded his head.

"What did you want to talk about Scott?"

"I'm planning to run a tournament. I've been keep this a little secret until I had it all thought out. There will be 128 trainers in this tournament. You and the rest of the brains will be taking part in it. I've also personally invited some top trainers into this tournament. You'll know who they are when it starts. It starts in six months from last Friday. Everything else will be explained at the tournament." Scott explained a few more minor details.

"I see, do you think it'd be okay for me to leave to train some more?" Ash asked as he noticed the thoughtful look on Scott's face. If I were to be challenged it wouldn't take me too long to get back here if I get Gardevoir to teleport me back here." Ash explained.

"Ash you're forgetting a couple things. The distance you need to travel is quite large and for your Gardevoir to teleport you back would require a lot power. Say she gets exhausted from training and a challenger just so conveniently happens to be here looking for you, how do you expect to get back?" Scott countered. He knew Ash wouldn't purposely avoid challengers but there needs to be a way for him to respond in case something like this were to happen.

"I know where you're getting at Scott, but if Gardevoir doesn't have enough energy to take me back I still have one of Pokemon who can." Ash said. As to prove his point he lifted the Master ball around his neck.

"I didn't know you had anything of the sort." Scott said as he eyed the master ball in front of him. "Still full of surprises I see. Very well, As long as you can respond to your duties as a frontier brain, there should be no problems at all."

"Thanks Scott." Ash said with grin on his face.

"Don't worry about it." Scott said. And with that the screen in front of Ash went blank.

'Might as well go pick my team before I go.' Ash thought as he made his way out.

Upon arriving to the field, he called his Pokemon to tell him about his plans.

"Listen up, everyone." Ash said. All Pokemon's eyes were on him. "I'm planning to go back to Mt Silver for training. A tournament is coming up and I want all of you in top form. I'll be rotating everyday so I can train with all you. I'll be taking Pikachu, Noctowl, Gardevoir, Garchomp, Serperior, Tyranitar and Blastoise." Ash was happy that being a frontier brain he got his carry limit increased my two. Now he's able to carry eight Pokemon at all times. Ash then went to recall the selected Pokemon but Pikachu and Gardevoir. Before he left he managed to say. "Don't give Brock too much trouble." And with that he teleported away.

 **Well that's it for now. I only named seven because of the Pokemon Ash has around his neck. This chapter was long but there wasn't too much going on, It was mostly just back story. I'll make sure to something in the next chapter. Give me a couple suggestions for the story if you've got any. Also what Pokemon he should get from trading his Tauros. Cynthia will get more spotlight next chapter also. Leave a review, I appreciate all of them. Until next time. Peace.**


	3. Chapter 3

"normal speech"

'Thought'

' _Telepath_ y'

Chapter 3

Cynthia had just made it back to sinnoh. Her elite told her that her and her elite were invited to a tournament in kanto and want to discuss it with her. She was even told that there was a guest waiting for her return. As she had nothing to do at the time, she decided to comply. She walked into the pokemon league and was greeted by Bertha.

"Cynthia dear, the rest of the elite are waiting for you upstairs. They're in your office at the moment." With that the two left to meet the other elites. "So where have you been? You've been leaving more and more saying there's something you need to find." The older women looked to her side to see her champion. She appeared to not no give her question a thought when...

"I've been in Kanto and to answer your next question, no I haven't found what I've been looking for yet." The two women reached an elevator before Cynthia walked to the panel pressing the button going to the top floor. "Tsk, why are they in my office again?" Cynthia asked.

"Because they like it in there" Bertha shrugged. "You should really tell us what you're looking for dear." Cynthia just gave her a questioning look. "You haven't been yourself in a while."

Cynthia just continued staring at the elevator in front of her. "Hmm, how so?"

"Come now, i'm pretty sure you're old enough to figure what's changed from about a year and a half ago." Bertha said giving her a calculating look.

Cynthia thought a little bit about what changed since about a year and a half ago. 'Hmm, for one I've been leaving the league more than I should. I'm a bit behind on my work which was something I had been usually on track with, is there anything else that's really noticeable?' Before Cynthia could think about anymore the elevator dinged signaling the two women that they had arrived on their desired floor.

The two women walked out of the elevator and were met with the other three elites. Confused Cynthia looked around. She was told there was a guest, but couldn't seem to see him. The three elites walked over to greet their champion. These elites were known as Aaron, Flint and Lucian.

"Hey Cynthia!" Her elites greeted. The champion nodded her in response.

"Hey guys." Cynthia said as she looked around. "I thought we had a guest here."

"You do." A voice said behind the elites. They separated and behind them was the owner of the battle frontier, Scott.

"Hello Scott, it's been awhile since we last saw you. What can we do for you?" Cynthia said.

"Yes, Cynthia it has. Now that you're here I can explain why I called you all here." He motioned for them to sit down before telling them why he called for them. "I'm here today because I want to invite you all to tournament. It'll be starting in about six months time and I've invited all the top trainers." Scott said looking around making sure he still has everyone's attention. He made sure all eyes are on him before continuing. "The top trainers included are gym leaders, elite four members, champions and of course my own battle frontier. I've made this tournament for two main reasons. Number one, is to get the battle frontier more known. As league tournaments happen once a year for each region, trainers don't tend to do much other then train and pick another region to travel to and prepare for their league. But knowing that there's an additional challenge in the form of the battle frontier, they would want to hopefully see how they stack up against my brains. Reason number two, is to crown my new brain." At this everyone in the room was shocked that Scott had crowned a new brain. "Right now I consider him slightly above Brandon right now." At this their eyes widen. Brandon wasn't the strongest brain for nothing, and hearing that there was someone to possibly replace him as the leader was quite shocking to hear.

"Can we get any info about this trainer?" Asked Lucian as the others nodded in agreement.

"Hmm, I can give out a little bit I suppose." Scott said as everyone's faces lit up with excitement. "He defeated Brandon about two and a half years ago." Scott said looking around to see that everyone was patiently waiting for more info on this trainer. "I had wanted him to joy at that time but he declined. At that, I was disappointed but relieved at the same time." Everyone in the room gave him a questioning look. Scott noticed this and answered their unspoken question. "This trainer was about thirteen to fourteen at that time and he wanted to travel the world a bit more before settling down a bit." Scott explained. Everyone in the room was in shock. A kid that age defeating someone of Brandon's caliber so early in his career? That was almost unheard of. Brandon had the strength of an elite four. The only one who had a story like that was the legendary trainer Red and he disappeared as soon as here came. For a kid to beat Brandon in an official match, this kid would no doubt be the figure of all pokemon trainers when he got older.

"You're not joking with us, right Scott?" Flint asked. Scott shook his head to him, saying that everything he just mentioned was in fact true. "What's the kids name?"

"That I can't say." At this everyone wondered why he wouldn't give his name. If Scott wasn't lying about this guy then he deserves recognition for his achievements.

"Oh? How come we can't hear the young lad's name?" Bertha asked.

"He's been through a lot and he'd rather not have a bunch of people asking him questions. Especially ones about his private life. Scott said.

"Has he ever won a league yet?" It was Aaron this time that had asked the question.

"No he hasn't." At this, there were some questioning looks going around. If this trainer was as strong as Scott says he is, why hasn't he won a league. Taking the initiative Scott began to explain. "The reason for this is because after each league he tends to start from zero and head to another region using only his starter. The reason he doesn't use his older ones is because he doesn't want the hard work of the pokemon he trained to go to waste. Scott said.

"Can we at least know his starter?" Flint said.

"I'm afraid I can't, the only hint I can give you is that you know this trainer and if I told you his starter you'd instantly figure out who this trainer is." Scott said walking towards the elevator. "Well I hope you guys are satisfied with the answers. I'll be taking my leave, I hope to see you all there." Were Scott's last words as the elevator door closed.

"Scott's right about bring the battle frontier's attention to trainers. It's quite underrated for challenging it actually is." Lucian said.

"I agree on that, but who do you think is the trainer that Scott mentioned." Aaron asked. "He said that we'd know if he told us what is starter was."

"But what trainer could have such a starter? Flint said. "The only thing I could think of is a pokemon that's kept of its ball and not many trainers tend to do that."

At this Cynthia froze for a moment. A young trainer with that kind of potential, not winning a league, a starter that would give him away in an instant? She knew several trainers with those qualities, but only one had all three. 'But could it really be him? He's been missing for almost two years now. But if it really is him then-

"Cynthia dear." Cynthia was broken from her thoughts as she looked at the elder women beside her. "Why are you so quiet? You seemed to freeze when Flint mentioned something about this trainer. Do you have a clue to who he might be?"

"No, I was just thinking if I know trainer that Scott described. He seems to be one of a kind." Cynthia said with a fake smile but Bertha saw right through it but didn't say anything about it.

"Well, if you need anything just tell me i'm going back to my room." Bertha said is she walked out of the room.

"What are you three going to do?" Cynthia asked her remaining elites.

"Most likely train for the tournament." Flint replied.

"Same with me" Aaron said. With that the two left to go train for the upcoming tournament.

"And you, Lucian?" Cynthia asked. Lucian gave her a look to which Cynthia raised a brow. Lucian just shook his head and walked out of the room.

'What was that all about.' Cynthia wondered as she watched Lucian walk out. He's been acting weird recently. Shaking off her thoughts about him, she began thinking about the perfect place to train. 'I might as well go to Kanto since that's where the tournament's being held. But where should I go train?' Cynthia's option's came down to the Kanto Victory road and Mt Silver. 'Hmm both seem to have high level pokemon, but I guess Mt Silver would be more isolated. I guess that's settled, I should probably say hi to Grammy before taking off again.' And with that she left.

*Scene Change

Ash was climbing up Mt Silver. A dark cloak was around his body. He was lucky he didn't have to go to the top of Mt Silver to pick up Tyranitar. The higher Ash climbed the stronger the pokemon were. 'This is getting more challenging the farther I go. I should probably rest up here before going any further.' Ash thought setting a camp up in a small cavern away from the harsh winds.

'Might as well let everyone out for now.' With that released all but the pokemon around his neck.

"Hey guys, rest up we're near the top of Mt. Silver." Ash said as he went into his bag.

"Thanks Ash, beating those pokemon was a bit tiring." Blastoise said. His Noctowl and Serperior nodding in agreement.

"It wasn't so bad." Tyranitar said.

"Says the one who was here pretty much his whole life." Gardevoir said.

"Ok guys don't fight with each other." Ash said laying down some food for his pokemon.

"Ash, we should go visit Moltres." Pikachu said.

"You know, that's a good idea. We haven't seen her in a while haven't we?" Ash said. "Maybe we'll be able to battle with her for a bit." Ash said as he took a granola bar out of his bag.

"Hey Ash, do you think we'll be lucky enough to see more legendaries in here?" Garchomp asked.

"Maybe if we're lucky. I heard the other legendary birds are sometimes seen here. but usually no ones strong enough to even see the three of them." Ash said.

Suddenly his pokenav started to ring. He picked it up and saw that it was Brock.

"Hey Brock, is something wrong?" Ash asked worry clearly in his eyes. That worry was gone as soon it was left as Brock gave a small chuckle before continuing with what he had called for.

"No, no, nothing of the sort." The breeder said as he looked at his friend sigh in relief. " I've managed to get some trading done and I thought you should know about it." Ash perked up at the mention of his new pokemon.

"How many pokemon and what are they?" Ash asked, his attitude completely changing from when he answered his call.

"So far eleven of your thirty Tauros have been traded. The pokemon received are Absol, Flygon, Altaria, Milotic, Scizor, Aggron, Kadabra, Shinx, Dragonair, Lucario, and an Espeon." Ash's eyes widened. How did he manage to get so many strong and rare pokemon. Seeing Ash's question, Brock decided to answer. " Most of these pokemon were traded because the trainer's were having problems with them and instead of trying to fix those problems they just traded them away. Like Milotic and Altaria, their both shiny which is considered extremely rare but the problem their trainers had was that they didn't like how they were different. It's like they frowned upon them being different. At this Ash was getting didn't want his Tauros to be looked at like that. He'd hope his Tauros find a trainer that would take good care of them.

"Sorry Ash, I know your pokemon don't deserve those kinds of trainers. I'll try to make sure it doesn't end up like that too much." Brock said trying to reassure his friend.

"Thanks Brock, make sure you update me about anymore transfers." Ash said.

"Got it, Buddy. By the way Scott's gonna be gone for a while looking for trainers to invite to the tournament."

"Alright thanks for the head's up. I'll probably be swapping some pokemon tomorrow so I'll talk you then. Later."

"See ya." Brock said as the Screen went blank. As Ash put his pokenav away he noticed that his pokemon were all done eating. After he put everything away he recalled all his pokemon before picking up where he left off. 'I wonder how far up Moltres is.' Ash wondered. His thoughts were broken by a pair machoke in front of him. They seemed to be bigger than the average Machoke. 'What pokemon would be a good match for these two…I got it.'

"Garchomp, Tyranitar take the field." Ash shouted as two materialized in front of him. As soon as they were thrown a sandstorm quickly surrounded the area. "Tyranitar use Curse, Garchomp use Hone Claws.

The Machoke apparently had the same idea as both used bulk up. 'Well this could get annoying...'

"Garchomp use Dragon Breath, Tyranitar use Ice beam." Both pokemon fired their attacks. The machoke dodged and headed towards Ash's pokemon. One Machoke had a glowing blue fist, the other had both hands glow white. 'Focus punch and Cross chop.' Ash noticed.

"Garchomp counter then poison jab, Tyranitar catch the Cross chop then hit it with dark pulse." As the focus punch was about to hit Garchomp, he evaded the attack and hit Machoke with a purple claw. The machoke jumped back glowing purple slightly indicating that it was poisoned. The Machoke seemed to be stronger even though it was poisoned. 'Damn, it's ability is probably Guts.'

Meanwhile the other Machoke hands were caught in Tyranitar's as it released a dark pulse scoring a critical hit on his opponent. Both machoke were panting after taking the powerful attacks. The Poison Machoke the nodded towards the other Machoke who nodded back. The poisoned Machoke jumped up in the air while the other had a protect up. 'Hmm, nice strategy. I don't know how long Tyranitar and Garchomp would last after taking a Earthquake being powered up by Guts and Bulk up.' Ash thought.

"Garchomp into the air, Tyranitar try to counter his Earthquake with your's." Ash commanded. AS Garchomp flew into the air, Tyranitar stomped his foot into the ground releasing his own Earthquake. Unfortunately, Tyranitar's Earthquake was overpowered and he took a massive hit.

"Tyranitar! Are you okay?" Ash asked has the armor pokemon slowly got back up. Ash looked over at the other two pokemon in front of him, they seemed to have used a lot of energy. 'One more attack should do it.' Ash thought.

"Ok, Tyranitar, Garchomp, finish this with Outrage. Both pokemon roared as they were surrounded ay draconic energy. Both pokemon charged the fighting types in front of them as the two could only watch before they were hit. A small explosion occurred as the dust settled to reveal both Machoke with swirls for the eyes.

"Great job guys." Ash praised his pokemon. The both roared in acknowledgement. Ash went to his bag to take out some full restores. He then proceeded to heal his pokemon and the two fallen Machoke on the ground. The Machoke stood back up after nodding their head in thanks.

"Can you two tell us where Moltres is? Me and my pokemon would like to visit her." Ash asked the two fighting types. The Machoke just looked at each other before both pointing in a certain direction. Ash thanked the two heading off.

Meanwhile...

Cynthia was at the base of Mt Silver. She made sure she was well stocked before heading to train. From what she'd heard from Lance, this place is where multiple high level pokemon tend to be aggressive. 'Hmm, I wonder if what he said about Moltres is true. Maybe i'll see more then Moltres.' Cynthia thought as she made her way into the mountain. She didn't know how right she was.

 **Guess i'll end it there. Someone asked if I had some sort of schedule for this story, the answer is I don't. I kinda of just work on it whenever. I play a lot of league so I pretty much start working on the story after that. 11 out of 30 pokemon have been traded out. Leave a comment if you didn't see a pokemon you wanted him to get. I promise I won't abandon this story. It's been fun to write so far. If you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know. I don't know when i'll most likely update again, but it shouldn't be long. Hope you guys were satisfied with this chapter. Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Normal speech"

'Thought'

' _Telepathy_ '

Chapter 4

As Ash got closer and closer to Moltres he noticed the temperature began to rise. 'It shouldn't take too long for me to find her if this heat was any indication.' Ash thought as he was continuing his walk to Moltres cavern. 'There doesn't seem to be as much Pokemon around this area as I thought there'd be.' As Ash went into another series of tunnels, he stopped in front another cave. 'This cave seems to be where all the heat is coming from. I guess this is most likely where she is. Well, only one way to find out. As Ash was about to enter, there was a rumbling noise coming from beneath him. As he jumped back a long, serpentine Pokémon with it's body made of rock-like sections came out of the ground. It's red eyes staring down the trainer in front of it. As the dust, Ash noticed this Steelix was not like any Steelix he's seen. This Steelix was much bigger, not only that it wasn't it's normal silver color but more of a gold looking one. The Steelix face moved closer towards Ash. Ash couldn't feel any malicious intent coming from it.

'State your business with Moltres Trainer.' The Steelix said.

"I'm here to visit Moltres and hopefully battle with her." Ash replied.

'I don't believe you human. Even if you want to battle her, I doubt you'd be able to give me a decent fight let alone her.'

"So if I get through you…" Ash said as he reached for a pokeball from his belt.

'Hmph.' Steelix moved his head away as he prepared for the battle to come.

"Serperior!" Ash shouted as he threw a pokeball in front of him. a primarily pale green, serpent like Pokémon materialized in front of him.

"Serperior start with coil." As Ash said this, the Steelix in front of him used sandstorm. 'It's a good thing Serperior's accuracy went up.' Ash thought as he noticed how hard it was to see past the sand. Out of nowhere a glowing tail came out of the sand.

"Serperior, Duck!" Ash shouted, as Serperior narrowly got hit by the iron tail above her. "Go in with Leaf Blade" Serperior's tail glowed green as she closed the gap against steelix. Steelix brought his tail back and swung it at the leaf blade. The result was a tiny explosion pushing both pokemon back. 'This is sand is really annoying.' Ash thought.

"Serperior use Sunny Day." A bright orb came out of Serperior and started to light up the cavern. With the sandstorm subsiding Ash made his next move. "Solarbeam!" Another bright orb appeared as it grew much faster than normal due to sunny day. A bright beam shot at Steelix afterwards. However Steelix was ready for the attack as he skillfully dodged the attack and struck Serperior with a Fire fang. Serperior in response cried out in pain. 'Damn that was a big hit.'

"While it's still on you hit it with Leech Seed." Serperior shot seeds at Steelix who tried to back away but fortunately wasn't fast enough to avoid it as the seeds sprouted a bit and began to take energy away from Steelix. Steelix tail then turned blue and hit Serperior. Serperior was sent back into her ball. As Noctowl was dragged out. 'This isn't good Noctowl is at a type disadvantage here, on top of that we're not in the most open area for Noctowl to be flying around.' Ash looked up as Some stalactites on the ceiling caught his attention. 'Just maybe...'

"Noctowl, use extrasensory." Steelix not being too affected by the attack decided to launch a Dragonbreath in response. "Dodge, then Psychic on the Dragonbreath." The Dragonbreath was then outlined blue indicating that the Dragonbreath was under Noctowl's control. "Now, send it right back!" Ash shouted as the Psychic empowered Dragonbreath made contact with Steelix. The attack made him roar in pain. Ash noticed the attack had paralyzed the iron snake pokemon. 'This is my chance.'

"Noctowl Air Slash on the stalactites." Waves of air cut through the stalactites as they started to fall on Steelix effectively immobilizing it. "Now finish this with Hyper Beam." As Noctowl charged a yellow orb of energy, Steelix could do nothing but watch as the beam was shot directly at him effectively knocking it out. 'I think i'm going to switch my pokemon around they deserve a good rest after all they've been through.' Ash thought bringing out his pokenav to call Brock up.

Moments later after he had his pokemon swapped he looked at the still unconscious Steelix in front of him. 'I feel bad for not treating it's injuries as fast I should of. I think i'll catch this Steelix, I've been meaning to catch one anyway. ' Ash thought has he threw a pokeball at Steelix. As the red light enveloped Steelix, Ash was shocked to see the light disappear and the pokeball returning to his hand. He looked at the Steelix still in front of him. 'Who's the trainer that would leave such a strong pokemon here.' Ash thought. His thoughts were broken as he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ash turned around to see a mysterious trainer staring directly at him.

Meanwhile...

Cynthia was walking through . Lance had been right about this place. It had been has high level pokemon all over the place, perfect for training her pokemon. Better take a break for right now she said as she spotted a cavern up ahead. Deciding to rest there, she made her way towards it. 'I wonder how far Moltres is.' Cynthia thought as she stopped in front of the small cavern. 'Maybe the more stronger the pokemon are, the closer to the area Moltres will be. I'll get there soon.' Cynthia thought has she made her way into the small cavern. As she went inside she looked around.

"Someone was in here recently." Cynthia said to herself. She examined the cave she was in. 'Bits of pokemon food, a granola bar wrapper and pokemon prints.' She noticed the types of prints on the ground. The one she recognized right away was a Garchomp's print. 'This Garchomp seemed to be bigger than average.' Cynthia thought. She looked over the rest of the prints, One particular print caught her eye. It was a small print that belongs to a certain electric mouse pokemon. "This pokemon… No it couldn't be. Pikachu shouldn't be up here, and if one was then it'd certainly be much stronger than average." Cynthia said to herself. Her mind was telling her it's not what she's thinking, but her heart said otherwise. She looked at a tunnel leading further into the mountain. 'I think i'll sit here a bit before deciding whether this feeling was right or not. After all this place does hold some strong groups of pokemon, don't wanna be caught off guard for whatever reason.' Cynthia thought. Letting her mind wander she remembered the first time she went to look for Ash.

* **Flashback** *

Cynthia was watching another sinnoh league. This group of trainers weren't even close in skill compared to the last one. She stopped paying attention to the trainers battling on the field. She was thinking about the battle between Ash and Tobias. That match certainly wasn't fair for Ash, battling against an opponent with legendary pokemon. She remembered how amazed she was when Ash had taken down Darkrai and Latios. She shouldn't of been surprised, Ash was no normal trainer after all. He was a person who feared nothing, his battling style was very original and on top of that he was very handsome. She wondered if he thought of her as attractive like most people did. She thought of things like what their first date would be like, maybe just eating ice cream together and talking about their futures. What their kids would look like. At this Cynthia blushed, doing that with him would be… would be.

"Cynthia?" Her thoughts were broken by a small old man beside her. "Cynthia are you feeling ok? Your face is red." The man beside her said.

"Yes Charles. Im fine it's a bit hot out here is all." Cynthia said trying to avoid the topic as best as she could hoping that he would buy her lie. But Charles was old, he knew much better than to believe her little lie.

"Cynthia how old do you think i am?"

"Eig-

"Dont answer that." He cut her off. "I've been alive long enough to know that the red on your face is clearly not from the heat. You should be watching the rest of the battle, there may be trainers that may catch your eye like the last group."

"I've been around, these trainers aren't as skilled as the last."

"Oh? Which trainers do you think fit in that category."

"Well Barry was a good one. Very impulsive trainer. Conway even though he didn't get a good showing. He had a very well thought strategy to catch Ash off guard. Paul is a very aggressive trainer. If he had a better bond with his pokemon he may have been the one to face against Tobias. And Finally Ash. He's an all around trainer, but his strongest strength is his bond with his pokemon. He has the ability to think on his feet to win battles where he's at a disadvantage. He probably would of won the league if it wasn't for the fact Tobias had legendary pokemon.

"I have to agree on your choices. Those trainers were indeed very skillful in their own way. Do you know what their plans are for the future?" Charles asked.

"I believe Paul is going to train for the Kanto battle frontier challenge. While Ash is in the middle of the Unova league at the moment. He's probably going to go home after the league. I might head over there afterwards to catch up with him." Cynthia said.

"I hope that's all you want to do with him for right now. He's underage for whatever you may be thinking of." Charles said with a mock glare. Cynthia however didn't see he was joking and just turned her red face away from him.

"R-R-Right…" Cynthia stuttered. At this Goodshow raised a brow but just shrugged it off.

*Time skip

Cynthia had gotten off the boat and was making her way over to Pallet town. The climate was much warmer here then it was in sinnoh. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten sometime off with all the work she had to do to prepare for the league. Maybe she can get Ash to show her around after they've caught up a bit. 'And have him possibly treat me to some ice cream.' Cynthia thought with a blush as she made her way into the small town. But when she got to her destination however she was met with Ash facing a group of his friends. Her eyes widened as he started to glow blue .'He's an aura user?' Her thoughts were interrupted by Ash's yelling.

"-WHAT IT MEANS TO FEEL PATHETIC!" Ash shouted as his aura temporarily blinded everyone. When Cynthia opened her eyes he was gone. His friends seemed to not care that he disappeared. Wanting her questions answered she headed towards the group.

"What happened? Why was Ash yelling before he disappeared? Cynthia asked.

"We basically told him to get lost." Said a redheaded girl with her hair tied to the side.

"Pretty much, I mean what kind of self proclaimed pokemon master loses a battle to a person down a pokemon? Dawn said this time. "Don't you agree Cynthia?" Cynthia however was speechless. These people, These people were suppose to be Ash's friends. Hadn't he saved them on more than one occasion? Hasn't he cared for them and gave them experiences most people haven't had their whole lives. If that was the case how could they say such things about hi-

"Thank Arceus that he's finally gone. Now we don't have to hear how he failed at everything." Max said arrogantly. That set Cynthia off as she began to explode on the trainers in front of her.

"How dare you say that about your friend! Not just any friend ever, do you know how many experiences you got to go through that no other trainer has seen in their life? And how can you say he's weak? He's defeated legendary pokemon in battle and on top of that he's the most caring person when it comes people and pokemon. How can you call someone like that pathetic?! All of you don't realize what you threw away, but mark my works you'll be sorry for what you did to him this day." And with that Cynthia threw out her Garchomp and left the scene. 'I'll find you and bring you back.' Cynthia thought as she flew away.

* **Flashback End** *

Cynthia snapped out of her thoughts as she her footsteps approaching her. She readied a pokemon in case she was attacked. She left the cavern and saw two Machoke in front of her. But there was something off with these two. They don't seem as aggressive as the rest of the pokemon in this mountain. Examining the two she realized why. They looked like they took quite the beating. It looks like someone healed the two after their battle and it looks like their going back to rest. She watched as the two pokemon passed her until they were out of sight. 'Well I'm up now, might as well continue going through the mountain.' Cynthia thought as she continued heading further up Mt Silver.

*Scene Change

"I'll ask again. What are you doing here." A mysterious man walked into the light. Ash's eyes widened. This trainer was almost exactly like himself. Red and white sleeveless jacket, Black pants, red and white sneakers. To top it off he had a red and white trainers cap on top of his jet black hair hiding his piercing red eyes. On his shoulder, just like him was a Pikachu. If it wasn't for the fact he was wearing a cloak, it'd be like Ash was looking into a mirror.

"Who are you?" Ash asked. It's like he was looking at a different version of himself. Ash himself was shaking. This person seemed to radiate power. The other trainer noticed this.

"Are you scared? That fact you're shaking seems to confirm my belief." The trainer asked reaching for a pokemon on his belt. Ash on the other hand was far from it. After all the time he spent training he hasn't found anyone to test his new skills on yet. And it looks like he finally gets to see how far he's come since that day. A wide smile came onto his face as he reached for a pokeball on his belt.

"No way!" Ash shouted as he looked at the trainer in front of him. "I've been training to prove i'm the best. There's no way I would be scared, not after coming this far."

"I see." The trainer simply said as he threw out a pokeball in front of him. Materializing from the ball was a quadruped Pokémon with bumpy, bluish green skin. It has small, circular red eyes, a short, blunt snout, and a wide mouth with two pointed teeth in the upper jaw, and four pointed teeth in the lower jaw. On top of its head are small, pointed ears with reddish pink insides. It has three clawed toes on each foot. The bud on its back has bloomed in a large pink, white-spotted flower

"Venusaurrr!" It roared. Ash eyeing the pokemon in front of him. "This trainers Venusaur seems really strong, I wonder how mine will stack up to it." Ash thought.

"Venusaur I choose you!" Ash shouted as he threw his own on the field. "Before we start may I ask your name. It would give me some comfort knowing the person i'm battling."

The man just gave Ash one word. One name. One to not appear for several years since he disappeared. The man known as a legend, an icon to the pokemon world. Ash was visibly shaken from hearing who his opponent was. The name just kept going through his mind.

'Red.' Ash kept thinking. Now he knew for sure, that this battle would decide how far away he is from the top. With new found adrenaline running through his veins, his shock now long forgotten. He knew this battle will tell him everything he needs to know.

"Venasaur!" Both trainers shouted to their pokemon. "Double Edge."

 **Hey guys, been a bit since I updated. Been playing lots of league and doing other stuff, so i didn't really make time for the story. Sorry bout that :3 Anyway hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. There's probably a good chance i'll release another chapter before my birthday which is on July 2nd. But we'll see, if not before then a little bit after. If you guys got any questions ill try to answer them. There's only 11 of 30 pokemon traded so far, so if you want Ash to own a certain pokemon be sure to let me know. Until next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Normal speech"

'Thought'

'Telepathy'

Chapter 5

"Double Edge!" Both trainers shouted. Ash noticed his Venusaur was getting pushed back slightly. 'I trained this long and my pokemon still aren't the strongest, what should i do.' Ash thought as he saw his Venusaur getting pushed further. 'Maybe...' Ash thought as he looked at his surroundings and noticed several large boulders around.

"Venusaur, roll to your left and use vine whip to grab that boulder." Ash said as Venusaur leaned to his left as his vines went to the boulder. "Now pull yourself towards the boulder with your vines."

"Saur!" It roared in acknowledgement. As he began to retract his vines Red gave out his next command.

"Stop the double edge then rock smash on the boulder Venusaur is wrapped around." Red's Venusaur smashed the boulder leaving Ash's Venusaur off balance. "Bulldoze." Red's Venusaur stomped on the ground dealing damage and decreasing his opponent's speed.

'His pokemon's stronger than mine, not to mention faster. I should switch out now before Venusaur takes anymore damage.' Ash thought.

"Venusaur, return." Ash said as he recalled the kanto starter. He fingered each ball until he found the one he wanted. "Glalie, I choose you.

Glalie is a spherical Pokémon that consists of a black rock core covered by ice. The icy covering has several holes and spaces across this Pokémon's body. "Start off with Icy Wind."

"Petal Blizzard." Red said. Both pokemon launched their respective attacks, clashing into one another. For a moment both attacks seemed equal until the powerful Icy Wind pushed through. However Red saw this coming. "Light screen." Was his next command as a yellow barrier surrounded Venusaur. Venusaur was hit by the super effective attack, but shrugged it off as the light screen cut the damage done. "Venusaur, Sunny Day." An orb of light began to form in Venusaur's mouth.

'I don't like where this is going.' Ash thought. "Use Blizzard. But wait until it fires the orb." Glalie followed its orders to a tee as it fired the Blizzard as soon as the bright orb left Venusaur's mouth. Even though the light screen was in effect, the Blizzard seemed to have critically strike causing Venusaur major damage. 'At least this is going my way for now.' Ash thought.

"Venusaur, Synthesis."

'Or not.' Ash thought as he watched Venusaur start to recover from the injuries it sustained.

"While it's recovering, Use Blizzard." Ash said. Glalie shot the Blizzard at the recovering Venusaur. Luckily for Ash lightning does strike twice as Venusaur was now frozen solid. But before Ash could take advantage of the situation Red had returned his pokemon. Red then reached towards his belt before throwing out his next pokemon.

*Scene change

On an the island off Fushsia City. Giovanni sat at his desk. He was waiting on a call from both Team Aqua and Magma leaders. 'Where are those imbeciles, all I need is for them to tell me if they had set up. Is it really so hard to get an update saying 'we have just finished setting up the operation, moving to stage two'. It's not like Mt Silver is on the other side of the wor-

His thoughts were interrupted as the phone in front of him began to rang. Looking at who was calling he thanked Arceus that these men didn't keep him waiting to much longer.

Picking up the phone he begun speaking with the person on the other end. "Is there a reason it took you longer than expected?"

The man on the other end was thinking about the right way to break it to him. "Well Giovanni, we didn't account for the Champion of Sinnoh to be here. So we waited till she disappeared before beginning to set up."

"Archie, you have the cooperation of teams, Magma and Rocket. Even though she is a champion, I hardly doubt she'd be able to take all of you at once don't you think?" Giovanni asked feeling rather annoyed at being sidetracked.

"With all due respect, I don't think it would be wise to confront her before our operation even begins. If we did attempt to take her and fail, then not only will our efforts here be a waste but also Magma and Aqua will find themselves back on the radar. Do remember that we're suppose to be disbanded."

With a small sigh, Giovanni reluctantly accepted his answer. "I'll accept your answer for now, but please keep in mind we are behind schedule so i'm going to need you to make up for lost time. We don't need anyone knowing our plans should we happen to take too long." Giovanni said as he was about to hang up. "Oh, one more thing."

"Hmm?"

"If the champion gets in your way, make sure to silence her."

"Of course." Was the last thing Giovanni heard before the line went dead. With a short sigh, he went to get himself a drink across the room. If they weren't strong enough to stop that champion, at least he had sent one of his most trusted officers there, with a little bit of 'insurance' to make sure everything goes as planned. Knowing even if they were locked into combat with said champion, she wouldn't last long. At that thought Giovanni let an evil grin stretched across his face.

*Scene change

A huge, bipedal, dark blue-green Pokémon came out of the ball. It had cream-colored face, belly, and feet. Its body is composed of mostly its belly, where most of its fat reserves accumulate. Its head is large, with small, pointed ears and two pointed teeth protruding from its lower jaw.

'A Snorlax!' Ash thought. 'Glalie probably won't be able to do much to Snorlax, it'll probably be better if i saved him for later on.'

"Glalie return." Ash called out as Glalie returned to it's pokeball. "Feraligatr come out." A bulky, bipedal crocodilian Pokémon had materialized in front of Ash. It's primarily blue with accents of red and yellow. A notable feature of Feraligatr is its large, powerful jaws that are able to bite and lock down on opponents.

"Feraligatr, Agility." Ash shouted his pokemon began to speed up. "Follow up with Ice Punch."

"Snorlax, Defence Curl." Red called to his pokemon. Snorlax curled up weakening the damage from the ice punch. "While it's close, Use Rollout." Snorlax began rolling towards the big jaw pokemon.

"Feraligatr redirect it." Feraligatr held its arms out and redirected the attack away from it. It was clear that it still took damage from the rollout. 'That defence curl rollout combination looked like it hurt a bit' Ash thought as he watched Snorlax approach with another rollout. "Dodge with agility then use water gun onto the field." This strategy Ash hasn't used since in a while. He still remembered when he used this against Whitney. He had a wave of nostalgia run though his body before refocusing on the battle in front of him. The strategy seemed to work again as Snorlax lost the momentum of the rollout.

"Snorlax Rain Dance." Red called out. At this Ash raised a brow for a moment.'Wouldn't this give Feraligatr an advantage? Unless...' Ash's eyes widened.

"Feraligatr Iron Tail and Stick it into the ground." Feraligatr didn't know what his trainer was thinking but he knew there was a reason for it. Ash's suspicion was confirmed when he saw a massive thunder attack launched by Snorlax. Feraligatr had just stuck his tail into the ground as the electricity struck him. The Iron tail successfully grounded the electricity. Ash let a breath he was holding out. 'That was close.' Ash thought. Ash then looked at his opponent looking somewhat shocked at him before his face returned to normal.

"Thunder." Ash raised an a brow, Feraligatr's tail was still in the ground. The attack would do nothing. But as he saw this Snorlax had closed the gap between the two. Snorlax had unleashed the thunder at close range. But that wasn't all. It's fist started to glow a light blue. It's either he let Feraligatr take the focus punch or the thunder. He felt the former would be much better.

"Brace for the Focus Punch, Try to block it." Ash said as his pokemon was hit with a powerful focus punch. Unfortunately for Ash his pokemon couldn't block the attack and was sent flying into the wall. Slowly but surely it got back up looking a bit worse for ware but was still ready to fight.

"Confuse it. Use Double team, then agility." Feraligatr created multiple clones of itself. The clones then proceeded to run around faster the eye could see. Snorlax was looking around, but all he saw was multiple blurs going everywhere. Snorlax was about to fire an attack when…

"Snorlax, stop. Calm down." Red said to his pokemon. Snorlax stood there taking in some breathes. Ash saw this as his chance to get some damage down. He looked up and saw the rain still coming down. 'I could still take advantage of this. His thoughts were cut short as Snorlax stomped its foot into the ground. Shockwaves made its way towards Feraligatr and it's clones. Ash watched as the clones fell one by one. If he needed to do something it was now.

"Jump and use Water Pulse." Feraligatr avoided the massive earthquake by jumping into the air, an orb of water being fired from it's position above Snorlax. The attack connected leaving Snorlax confused. "Finish it with Superpower." Ash shouted. Feraligatr began glowing light blue before charging at his confused opponent with all it's straight.

"Dodge." Red tried calling out. But his Snorlax simply hit itself as Feraligatr connected with Snorlax. A small explosion occurred, a few moments later Snorlax was down with swirls in it's eyes. Red just sighed as he recalled as Snorlax. He stood there for a moment thinking about his next pokemon. A small sound caught his attention as he took his eyes off the field. His opponent noticed this and looked in the direction he was facing. Red threw out his ball as Ash run off the field.

Scene change

Cynthia continuing her walk through the mountain. She had been walking for a while now. The mountain was much bigger than she thought it would be. 'If he really is here it would be hard to find him, if i'm lucky enough he might just be where i'm headed.' Cynthia thought. 'I wonder if he missed me like I did him. Maybe not, I mean, we haven't really talked for too long and I was extremely busy during the time i met him. Maybe he even has a girlfri-...' The thought made Cynthia's chest hurt. 'No, No I can't be thinking like that. I've heard from Brock that he was always really dense, so it was a low chance of that even happening. But if it were to happ-.' Her thoughts were cut off as the cavern she was in started to shake. It was as if someone was battling. She waited for it to happen again, but this time it was much stronger. 'Who could be battling here? Those shockwaves are way too strong for it to be against a wild pokemon. Right?' She thought about it again. Its either that the battle is happening nearby or these pokemon are so strong that their attacks echo throughout the mountain. Just then an idea struck Cynthia.

"Garchomp, I need your help." She threw her pokeball and her starter appeared in all it's glory. It let out a fierce roar before turning it's attention to her trainer. "Garchomp do you think you could lead me to where those shockwave are coming from?" The pseudo legendary waited for a moment for the shockwaves to rip through the mountain again before nodding her head. She began running towards the source of the vibrations, Cynthia following suit. How ever they were being followed by some unwanted guests.

*Time Skip*

Her Garchomp had been going through several caves while the shaking of the mountain only intensified. 'Whoever these trainers were, they sure had strong pokemon. If the mountain shaking was any indication to go by. The closer Cynthia got the more nervous she was. The shock waves have been going on for a long time. Suddenly her Garchomp stopped. Cynthia catching up with her starter looked at the sight before her. A shiny Steelix was on the ground. It appeared to have gone through a tough battle. It looked like it's been healed a bit, but still looking pretty out of shape. She examined it again. It was much bigger than any Steelix she'd seen. Add on the fact that it wasn't its normal colour and it's the most amazing Steelix she's ever seen. Voices drew her attention elsewhere as she began moving towards where the voices were coming from. She had made it to a clearing and saw two trainers battling. She couldn't see the person on the far end because the other person's cloak blocked her view. After moving a bit to where she could see both trainers, her jaw dropped at the sight of the trainer she couldn't see before. The person she was staring at was the Legendary Trainer Red.

She had been told of his glories. The things you heard of him were never thought possible before. Like winning a league on his first year. That's one that only few have accomplished, but not only did he win in the league, he won against the reigning champion at that time. Other things she'd heard about him were stuff like catching all 149 pokemon in Kanto and almost completely destroying team rocket. All that in pretty much a year into his career as a pokemon trainer. After that he had disappeared without a trace. 'No wonder nobody knew where he was. Cynthia thought. Her eyes widened even more as the cloaked trainer took down his Snorlax. 'People thought Red was strong but what about this trainer?' She feels like she knows this person. His voice felt very nostalgic. Similar yet different at the same time. It was throwing her off. Suddenly both trainers were looking in her general direction. This caught her off guard, she had thought they wouldn't notice her presence. The hooded figure ran towards her while Red threw out his Charizard. "Wait, what are yo-" She was cut off as the hooded figure tackled her to the ground, shadow balls flying overhead exploded as they made contact where she once was. Looking behind her, A group of people wearing red and blue uniforms with Mightyena in front of them. She was so shocked that nothing came out when she opened her mouth. She watched as the hooded figure stood up and faced the group in front of him. Cynthia stared at the person in front of her. If it wasn't for her savior in front of her, Sinnoh probably wouldn't have a champion right now.

"Cynthia." The cloaked figure said as he looked down at her. He offered his hand which she took graciously. "Let me and Red take care of this." He said as he mentioned to Red who had already took a battle position. Red nodded his head in agreement as Ash returned Feraligatr. Cynthia looked at him again, one question going through her mind.

"Who are you?" She said out loud looking at the hooded figure in front of him. He just looked back at her and smiled. 'That smile of his. Where have I seen it before?' Cynthia's train of thought were cut off as the Mightyena shot another wave of Shadow Ball. Before she had time to respond a yellow blur shot out of the man's cloak and positioned itself in front of them. She recognizes that pokemon. It was a Pikachu.

"Counter Shield." The man said as the Pikachu began spinning around while using thunderbolt. An electric barrier began to form as the Shadow Ball made contact with it. She recognized this technique and the origin of it. If it were any other pokemon on the field then she'd be entirely wrong about this person. Tears started coming out of her eyes as she made a realization. These feelings she felt from this person, the techniques he used, the pokemon he used, a smile that made her heart melt. She only came up with one conclusion. An explosion occurred as the shadow ball made contact with the thunderbolt. The shock wave from the explosion forced the man's hood down. Tear's continued to fall down her eyes as she wrapped her arms around the man that had left her for so long. Hugging him from behind he felt him squeeze her hand. She knew the position they were in, but still couldn't help but feel a little greedy.

"I missed you, Cynthia." He said as he smiled his one million volt smile at her. The smile that lit her world up. One that she hoped that would never leave her world unlit again. She smiled as she snuggled into his back.

"I missed you too… Ash"

 **Hey guys, it's me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was thinking about releasing this tomorrow but thought otherwise.** **I don't know when the next chapter will come out but hopefully I won't leave you guys too long. I'll let you guys know if anything comes up. Leave a favourite, review or suggestion. PM if you have any ideas i may implement into the story. I pretty much just write as I go so some ideas would always be great. I've been thinking about making the next chapter nice and long but i don't know i'll see. Hope I didn't make too many mistakes this time. Other then that, til next time. Peace.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Normal Speech"

'Thought'

' _Telepathy_ '

Chapter 6

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt." Ash commanded as his starter released several bolts of electricity at the group of Mightyena in front of were taken down at once. Team Aqua and Magma stood unfazed as more pokemon were thrown in front of Pikachu. "Thunderbolt, again. And again Pikachu released several more bolts of electricity knocking down the various variety of pokemon in front of him. But it didn't seem to end as more and more pokemon were being thrown. Ash saw Crawdaunt, Golbat, Camerupt, Magcargo and of course more Mightyena. Ash deadpanned, he's not gonna be able to look at that pokemon for a while. He felt something shift behind him as he turned around to see Cynthia release her Gastrodon.

"You do know i'm a champion right? I'm not going to let you do all the work for me." Cynthia said as she took her spot beside Ash. "You're as independent as you are beautiful, you know that." Ash said mesmerized by the woman beside him. Said woman's face just happened to glow fifty shades of red at his comment. 'So much for the strong independent Sinnoh Champion.' Cynthia thought as she turned her attention towards the group in front of her inwardly hoping Ash couldn't see her face. He didn't get a good look at her face but the way she's acting towards his comment definitely told him everything he needed to know. She was embarrassed. 'She's so cute when she's trying to avoid m-' His thoughts were cut off as another barrage of attacks made it's way towards them. Before Ash could call out a move to defend them, Cynthia had already made her move. She told her Gastrodon to create a wall using rock slide. The attacks made contact with the wall which absorbed the attacks.

"You know Ash, it's not good to take your eyes off your opponent." Cynthia said the blush on her face completely disappearing. She looked behind her and noticed Red was dealing with his own problem at the time. Refocusing on the task at hand she noticed the grunts slightly backing off. 'Now's the time to attack.' Cynthia thought as she looked at Ash. Ash already knowing what she's thinking, gave her a short nod. "Gastrodon use Surf." Gastrodon summoned a huge wave of water hitting all the people and pokemon in front of her. Ash smiled. She had set her up perfectly.

"Pikachu hit them with thunderbolt." Ash shouted. Pikachu let a huge bolt of electricity connect with the soaked to the bone group in front of them. The result… quite shocking. Ash noticed another group heading towards them. 'Damn, I feel like this is just the tip of the iceberg. We should get out of here as soon as possible.' Ash thought. "Red!" Ash shouted as he saw said trainer turn towards him. "I think they won't stop coming anytime soon, i'll take Moltres with me and keep her hidden for a while." Ash said as he gestured Cynthia to follow him.

"Only if she agrees." Red said as he let Ash and Cynthia go to where she resided. He watched as group after group came and surrounded him. Pokemon growling ferociously in front of him. 'Well this doesn't seem good.' He thought as he threw his Espeon out.

Scene change*

Ash and Cynthia were inside the cavern where Moltres laid. They noticed it was much hotter in here then it was outside. They walked a couple meters in and they saw a large, avian Pokémon with orangish gold plumage. It had a long, flowing head crest and a billowing tail, both made of flames. Additionally, its wings were also shrouded in fiery plumage. It was sitting in the middle of the cavern. It's eyes locked onto Ash's. Moltres recognized this Human. If it weren't for him he may have been captured by somebody else for their own gain. The one who stopped Her, Articuno and Zapdos with the help of Lugia. Come to think of it she hasn't heard from Lugia in a while. She cut her thoughts as she began examining the person beside Ash.

Ash noticed Moltres staring at Cynthia and Cynthia right back. "It's okay Moltres she's an acquaintance of mine, she's no threat to you. This is Cynthia." Moltres eyed her for a few moments before turning his attention back at Ash.

' _Long time no see, Chosen One_.' Moltres said giving Ash her full undivided attention.

"It has, hasn't it? Cynthia looked at Ash. Surprised he was able to talk and understand Moltres. He gave her a look that told her he'll explain everything at another time. An explosion happened just outside as they all turned their attention towards it. 'I need to hurry.' Ash thought.

"Forget about that right now. I need you to come with me, you're in danger here. Ash said. Moltres just tilted her head to the side. "There's a group of people inside the mountain and their here for you. Red is outside keeping them busy as we speak." As if on cue another explosion occurred. "When everything blows over i'll let you go if you so choose to." Ash said as he held out a Luxury Ball in front of Moltres.

' _I trust you Ash. If it wasn't for the fact you were master Lugia and Arceus's chosen one, I would of declined. You better keep your word._ ' Moltres said as she tapped the ball offered to her.

"Of course." Was all Ash said as another explosion occurred. He back to see Red surrounded by dozens of grunts. Red noticed him and Cynthia coming out of the cavern.

"How did it go?" Red said as his Espeon protected him from a volley of attacks. Ash nodded his head in his direction signalling that everything went well. "Escape from here if you can I'll hold them off." Red said as he ordered a light screen to protect him from the attacks being thrown his way.

"Are you sure?" Ash shouted his he took his hand away from his belt.

"I'll be fine, your top priority is to get Moltres out of here." Red said. "Follow that cavern to your left and it'll leave you outside. I can hold out just go." Red shouted.

"Follow them!" A loud stern voice behind them called out. Ash and Cynthia ran through the cavern. As they did they hear a small explosion behind them. They turned around to see that the entrance caved in. Nobody could follow them at the moment as they ran outside. "Cynthia, do you have a flying pokemon on you?" Ash asked. Cynthia shook her head.

"I have Garchomp, but she's fairly tired from going through the mountain. Ash nodded his head in understanding.

"Cynthia, what i'm about to show you is to be kept a secret. Not many people know I actually own this." Cynthia nodded her head as Ash reached for the chain around his neck. A master ball was attached to it. Cynthia's eyes widened at the item in front of her. There must be a really special pokemon in there for him to keep it around his neck in a masterball of all things. Ash pressed the button in the middle as he did the ball grew in size. He threw it in front of him, as he did the pokemon materialized in front of him. Cynthia's breath hitched as she observed the pokemon standing before her. Ash just became that much more amazing to her. A primarily pale silver-white pokemon appeared, it had blue undersides with slightly varying tones. It has a ridged mouth similar to a beak, although it has pointed teeth on its lower jaw. Its head has a point to the back, and it's eyes have pointed blue or black spikes on them. Before her was the legendary pokemon Lugia.

' _You called, Chosen One?'_ Lugia said. Cynthia visibly flinched when she heard Lugia's voice.

"Cynthia i'll explain later as i know you have a lot of questions but we really do need to get out of here before they catch up to us." Cynthia nodded dumbly as she was still examining the pokemon in front of her. "Anyway, I need you to take me back to the frontier. I have taken Moltres from here and my pokemon need a little rest. So do you mind taking us?" Ash said.

' _I see, very well.'_ Lugia lowered it's back to let Ash on. Ash grabbed Cynthia's hand as he helped her up. She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his back. Ash smiled at the gesture. With a mighty flap of it's wings, it took off. They were making pretty good time as they headed back to the frontier. Ash's thoughts wandered back to the mountain. They had left Red back there by himself. Sure he almost destroyed team rocket before, but now he was up against two teams and his gut was telling him that something's going to happen. His thoughts were cut as Lugia started to speak. ' _So chosen one, you haven't introduced me to this young lady. Is she by any chance my new mistress?'_ Lugia looked on it's back to see Ash and Cynthia's blushing faces, the latter being much more red. Ash deciding on teasing Cynthia a bit, decided to play along.

"Why yes Lugia, she is. This is your new mistress Cynthia." Ash said as he turned as head around to give her a small peck on the cheek. Cynthia was left speechless as she did not see this one coming. She showed her embarrassment by promptly shoving Ash hard in response. It seemed to have the desired effect as Ash was now off Lugia's back and making as way towards the ground. Lugia letting a roar of amusement, dived towards his trainer and breaking his fall. A grunt signaled Lugia that he had successfully caught him on his back as he made his way towards the frontier. Ash was on his back legs on either side of Lugia's neck and his head resting in Cynthia's lap. He looked up at her beet red face. He gave her his signature smile, which made Cynthia take Ash's hat and promptly cover his face. 'She's so cute when she's flustered.' Ash thought as adjusted his hat. He moved as hand to her face. They locked eyes for a moment as their faces began getting closer and closer. They could feel each other's breath on one another. 'Is that cherries i smell? I hope so, I really like cherries.' Ash thought as his eyes began to close as well as Cynthia's. Their noses touched, He could already the cherry lip gloss she was wearing. Just as their lips were about to touch…

' _Ahem.'_ Lugia's voice had reminded them they weren't alone.

"We weren't doing anything." Ash said as face turning quite red from embarrassment.

' _Next time you do decide to lock lips, make sure it's not on my back.'_ Lugia said. Cynthia not even looking in their general direction. If this day kept up she would die of embarrassment before she can do anything else with her life.

"As long as we don't get interrupted again." Ash said. "Full speed to the frontier!" Ash shouted eagerly. And for the second time that day, Ash found himself free falling off of Lugia.

*Scene change

"Why won't this guy go down? We've been at his for half an hour and he hasn't lost a pokemon yet? A grunt yelled. Fortunately for Red they don't know he hasn't had time to heal his pokemon from his battle with Ash. But this was getting annoying. Wave and wave of grunts throwing their pokemon at him hoping to at least take down Espeon, but it didn't look like that was happening any time soon.

"Enough!" All pokemon stopped their attacks. The grunts started to split as a person walked towards Red. Red stood there examining the man. He appeared to be an executive. Much higher ranking then these grunts Red had the displeasure of battling. "Well, Well, if it isn't Champion Red. I'm Archer, an Executive of Team Rocket. I'm afraid we're going to have to take out with us." Archer then reached behind him and pulled out a black and purple pokeball. "You may be strong but you've been battling for quite some time now. I'll give you the option to come with us peacefully. I'd give you the option to join us but i'm afraid Giovanni wouldn't allow it as you had almost destroyed Team Rocket so the chance of you joining would be quite slim." He looked over at Red and noticed him looking at the pokeball in his hand. Answering his unspoken question he began. "This my dear champion is a dark ball. I can capture other people's pokemon with this. When I do the pokemon loses it's will and be at it's maximum level when caught."

"There's no way i'm letting you capture my pokemon." Red said as he returned Espeon. 'This is bad, I'm tired from battling for so long and Espeon doesn't have enough energy to take us somewhere else. As long as Ash and Cynthia got away they can warn the league about this. I might as well stall and try to get as much out of them as possible.' "Pi" Red said as his Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and stood in front of him, cheeks crackling with electricity. Archer looked at him and sighed.

"You do know you're coming with us weather you like it or not. As for catching your pokemon it would prove to be difficult, the Dark balls can't force pokemon who have strong friendships with their trainers. As for them being at maximum level I can guess your pokemon are near there. I have a team of Pokemon with me in Dark Balls so your only stalling at this point." As to prove his point he lifted his jacket and it showed five dark balls on his belt. "If that isn't enough, we've got one more surprise that will ensure this victory." He said as he threw out a Dark Rhydon. "Rhydon!"

"Brick Break!"

"Counter with your own Pi, then rotate your body and Iron Tail."

Rhydon ran up to Pikachu and swung a glowing arm at Pikachu. But Pikachu used it's own to deflect it. While Rhydon was stunned by the counter Pikachu spun it's body hitting it in the face with it glowing tail sending Rhydon to the ground. Rhydon roared in pain before picking itself off the ground glaring at the rodent in front of it.

"Rhydon, Surf!" Rhydon summoned a tidal wave at Pikachu. Archer smirked, there was no room in here to dodge the attack. Archer's smile faltered as he saw Red laughing to himself.

"That was a rookie mistake. Pi, Iron tail on the wave and while it's in the air Thunder." Pikachu charged at the wave with it's tail glowing, Pikachu's tail struck the wave sending a stream of water straight at Rhydon sending it off balance on the wave. Pikachu then followed up with Thunder. The Thunder made contact with Rhydon as it roared in pain before collapsing in front of it's trainer.

"B-B-But, how?" Archer was left speechless. A pokemon caught by a Dark Ball, lost to an unevolved pokemon that was at a type disadvantage.

"You should know type advantage isn't the only thing that wins a battle you know." Red said. "As for why Rhydon was affected by Thunder, It was on soaked from the Surf you had it used. On top of the fact that it wasn't on the ground, it couldn't ground the electricity being sent it's way." Archer clearly wasn't amused as his face was quite red and he had tick marks forming on his head.

"You clearly don't know the situation you're in. I wanted to hold on from using this but you've angered me quite a but. I'll show you why you've had no chance from the start." He reached for a pokeball on his belt. This one however was slightly different from the other Dark Balls. This one had a black 'M' on it. "This is a Master Dark Ball. It's taken very long to make as this was designed for a certain legendary that had ended up running away from us. But it got what it deserved. We showed him why it's never a good idea to turn against Team Rocket. And soon..." Archer threw the ball in front of him, hearing multiple gasps and whispers from the grunts around him. Even Red eyes were wide at the pokemon in front of him. A bipedal, humanoid creature with some feline features came out of the ball. It was primarily gray with a long, purple tail. On top of its head are two short, blunt horns, and it has purple eyes. A tube extends from the back of its skull to the top of its spine, bypassing its neck. It has a defined chest and shoulders, which resemble a breastplate. The three digits on each hand and foot have spherical tips. Its tail is thick at the base, but thins before ending in a small bulb. To top it off it had armour all over it's body. A large maniacal grin spreading across Archer's features.

"You'll find out why..." Was all Red heard before the pokemon attacked.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, sorry bout it being late. Some stuff happened and it's kinda distracted me from writing. Anyway about those wanting Zekrom, he'll be in the story later. When? Idk but i can guarantee he'll be in the story. The other pokemon Ash will get through the trade will be revealed next chapter. Favorite, Follows and Reviews would be great 3 I wanna know what you all think about Mega Evolution. Should I have it in this story? What pokemon would you all want to read about with Mega Evolution? Let me know :) Til next time, Peace.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Normal Speech"

'Thought'

' _Telepathy'_

Chapter 7

It had been a week at most since Ash left. The colosseum was quiet for the most part with their trainer away. Just the usual routine of pokemon sparring against one another. Brock had just finished trading all of Ash's Tauros. He looked on at the pokemon battling one another. He was always impressed at the way his pokemon trained with one another. Even though their trainer was absent at the moment, they always seemed to work their hardest.

'Just like their trainer.' Brock thought. 'I wonder if anything interesting happened yet, knowing Ash it's pretty like-' His thoughts were cut off as a roar made it's way through the skies. All pokemon stopped their training and starred in the direction it came from. Anabel and Scott came onto the field and looked in the direction the pokemon were looking at.

"Brock, what was that?!" Anabel and Scott shouted. Inwardly hoping nothing would happen to the colosseum while Ash was away. He'd be quite upset if he came home to what used to be his and his pokemon's home.

"I dont know. I was taking Ash's new pokemon to his office when I heard the roar. Just from the shock wave itself, i'd say it's stronger than most of the pokemon here." Brock said as he looked around and noticed that all of Ash's pokemon were now looking in the direction the roar came from. All of them took a defencive stance as they sensed the pokemon was headed in their general direction. They would not let Ash be disappointed in seeing their home taken from them.

"Guys be ready in case it attacks. If all Ash's pokemon are cautious we should be the same. Scott said. The other two nodded with their hands on their belts. "Hopefully it's nothing too troublesome." Another roar was let loose and the owner of it appeared above the colosseum.

"No way!" Scott and Anabel shouted.

'Well, this isn't good.' Scott thought. Above them was the legendary guardian of the sea, Lugia. It roar again, this time everyone had to turn away as the shock wave was just too much. Anabel and Scott were about to call their pokemon out when they heard something. They looked up and their jaws dropped. On top on the legendary pokemon's back was none other, than Ash.

"Hey!" Ash shouted waving both his hands in the air.

"Pikaaaaaaaaa!" Pikachu mimicking his trainers action from his spot on his head.

"Ash!?" They yelled in disbelief. Quite shell shocked at the fact Ash was riding such a rare and powerful pokemon. Not just that, Ash never mentioned he was coming back as it had only been a week since he left for . His pokemon also surprised that their master and friend had come back so soon.

'Land us there.' Ash said. Lugia nodded in understanding as he hovered over the area Ash pointed to and start to descend towards the designated spot. Once he got off he returned Lugia and was swarmed by his more affectionate pokemon. (Muk, Meganium, Torkoal, Heracross, and Gliscor). Ash laughed as he hugged all the pokemon currently around him. "Hey guys, i'm back." The other three were heading towards Ash ready to help him get up when another set of feet had hit the ground. This halted the small group as they gasped at the second person who came off the Legendary pokemon. It's not everyday your friend returns from a trip much earlier than expected riding a legendary pokemon alongside the Sinnoh Champion. Cynthia offered her hand to Ash, which Ash took with a smile. The moment their hands touched Cynthia blushed at the contact between her and Ash. Which unfortunately caused the Sinnoh Champ to let go of his hand and drop him on the ground. This caused all his pokemon to laugh at him. "Very funny." Ash said sarcastically has he made his way back onto his feet and dust himself off. This even made Scott and Brock laugh at his misery being joined a little later by Cynthia. The only one not joining in was Anabel. She was glaring at Cynthia after she noticed the blush that was on her face. "Anyway, if you three didn't know her this is Cynthia." Ash Gestured towards the blonde who nodded her head to the three. "You remember Brock. This is Anabel the Salon Maiden and the leader of the battle tower, and that is Scott the owner of the Battle Frontier." Cynthia greeted them all. The only one who didn't react was Anabel. "You okay Anabel?" Ash asked his voice full of concern.

"Umm ya, sorry I was spaced out." Tossing Ash a fake smile. Everyone except Cynthia saw right through it knowing her for quite a bit. For now everyone decided to shrug it off as there were more important matters at hand. Like Ash coming back so soon. Riding a Lugia. With the Sinnoh Champion.

"Okay, so i know you all have a bunch of questions to ask." To this all of them gave a nod. "I'll explain what happened while I was at , after that you can ask your questions. Ash then started talking about what took place in . All Brock and Scott's attention was towards Ash. Anabel's however was more focused on the blonde in front of her the anything else.

'Who does this whore think she is? She doesn't know what Ash has been through. She'll only hurt him. If anything he'll end up back to the way he was after his 'friends' left him. I should keep her away from him as much as possible.' With a nod to herself she started listening to Ash's story that appeared to be close to finishing. 'Damn, was i really that out of it?' Anabel thought as they were now asking their questions. Brock was the first to ask his.

"So where is Moltres right now?" Ash smiled and pulled a Luxury ball from behind him and showed it to them. "She's resting right now so i'd rather not take her out right now." They all nodded in understanding. Scott was next with his.

"What happened to Red after you left him at the mountain? Was there any sign that he made it out?" At this Ash's saddened a bit. This caused all of them (except Cynthia) to raise a brow. Wondering what could of happened to the Ex-Kanto Champion.

"Honestly, I don't know. After I had taken Moltres he told me where to go. But shortly after the cave collapsed so anything regarding Red ends there. I know he's a strong trainer, but I hope he's alright." They all nodded in understanding. "Anything you wanna know Anabel?"

"What is she doing here?" They all knew who she was talking about. The only other female with them at the current moment. Said female raised a brow at how she was addressed but let it go as she decided to fill Ash in on why she was at .

"Well, when Scott invited me to the Tournament I thought of a couple places to train in Kanto since that was where the Tournament was being held. I had asked Lance some places that held high level pokemon and he told me about and the Kanto Victory Road. I opted for because I thought it would be more isolated. But apparently it wasn't. From there you all know the rest." Cynthia snuck a quick glance at Ash that didn't go unnoticed by the Salon Maiden who happened to be quite flustered at the moment.

"I see. Scott said. "Well since you're here Cynthia why don't you take the opportunity to rest here and figure out what your going to do next? You and Ash must be exhausted from all that." To this both of them nodded their heads in agreement. "This place has many guest rooms so please feel free to take one. If you don't like those, you can always sleep in Ash's room." At this Ash and Cynthia were both blushing quite a bit. The latter a bit more. Scott looking at both of them decided to tease them a bit more. "Just don't be too loud, I'm staying here for the night and have to be somewhere else tomorrow morning." This caused Ash and Cynthia to blush much harder. Ash awkwardly smiled at them while scratching the back of his head while Cynthia found the ground rather amusing. This caused Scott and Brock to laugh at the their expense. Anabel on the other hand, wasn't so amused.

"I think it's about time we got some rest. I talk to you guys later. Bye!" And with that Ash took Cynthia's hand and left the rest to watch them leave. A few minutes later Ash lead Cynthia to one of the guest rooms. "Here you are, if you need me i'll be in the room at the end of the hall. Scott will most likely be in a one of the rooms he made for himself." Cynthia nodded as she walked into her room and observed her surroundings. Wooden floor, white walls, nice furniture, a flat screen on the wall. Quite a nice place for being a guest room. "If you want, I can show you around tomorrow." Ash smiled at her causing her heart to skip a beat. Red slowly returning to her face.

"I would love that." Cynthia smiled back trying to fight back her blush. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Cynthia said. Just as she was about to close the door Ash shouted her name. Wondering what he wanted she opened the door. Just as fast as she opened it, she felt something on her cheek with Ash standing there awkwardly there at the door.

"Umm… Goodnight." Was all she heard as Ash disappeared down the hall. Seconds seemed like minutes to Cynthia as she stood at the doorway trying to process what just happened. Moments later a big smile appeared on her face as she indeed just been kissed goodnight, by the one and only Ash Ketchum. She must of been standing there for a while because Brock had noticed she was standing there for quite sometime not acknowledging his presence.

"Cynthia?" Her thoughts were cut off as she noticed someone standing in front of her.

"Brock? What are you doing here?" Cynthia said clearly embarrassed by her situation.

"What were yo-" Brock started but thought it wasn't important. "Anyway, have you seen Ash? I forgot to hand him his traded pokemon." To prove his point he held a bot that contained several pokeballs. twenty-nine to be exact.

"He went into his room a little while ago. He's either there or getting something to eat."

"Thanks a lot, you must be tired so i'll be on my way." And with those parting words Brock left to go find Ash. Cynthia closed the door behind her and leaned against the door. She was definitely looking forward to tomorrow. With that last thought she got up and got ready for bed.

 ***Scene Change**

Ash was in his room laying down on his bed, arms comfortably folded behind his head. Pikachu laying on the bed with him. Ash was thinking about where to show Cynthia around. Speaking of Cynthia he wasn't sure why he had done that to her. Sure, he tends to act on impulse but he didn't think his body would just kiss her goodnight like that. 'Hope she liked it at least.' The thought of her rejecting it sent shivers down his spine. Also something was off about Anabel, she's usually very friendly towards others. I hope Cynthia doesn't hate her for acting strange. His attention shifted over to the door as he thought he heard knocking. Pikachu's ears stood up as he looked at the door across the room. His belief was confirmed as he heard Brock's voice on the other side.

"Hey, Ash? You in there?"

"Ya, is something wrong?" Ash asked getting up to go open the door. He opened the door and saw the breeder holding a box filled with pokeballs.

"All the pokemon came in. I was gonna tell you earlier today but you shocked me when you came back so soon. Here's the list of pokemon that were traded. I haven't got around to checking them out yet as i feel they should see you first. Since after all, you're their new trainer." Brock said while handing over the box to Ash.

"I see." Ash said looking over the pokeballs. One specific on caught his eye, it felt like it was calling for him to release it. It was getting late so he decided to hold off until tomorrow. "Well, thanks for letting me know Brock. I'm going to get some rest for tomorrow. Goodnight." Ash said as he walked the breeder out of his room and layed back down on his bed. He looked down at Pikachu resting beside and petted him for a bit. 'You know buddy, I have a good feeling about tomorrow.'

"Pi." (What makes you say that?) Pikachu said rather lazily.

"I don't know. Just a feeling." Ash said as his eyes slowly closed, drifting out of consciousness.

 ***Ash's dream**

"Pikachu Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted. He was currently against the Kanto elite four leader and Champion of Johto Lance. This would decide if Ash would be Kanto's new Champion. The battle had been going on for quite sometime now. They were both down to their last pokemon.

"Pi-ka-chuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Pikachu unleashed it's signature move towards Lance's Dragonite. Lance stood there calm and collected.

"Dodge, then Extreme Speed into Dragon Rush." Dragonite easily avoiding the Thunderbolt started to pick a speed towards Pikachu. As it did so Dragonite's body became surrounded in a light blue orb with white streaks in a dragon-shaped energy that covers its body. It then slammed into it's opponent with full force.

"NOOOOO! Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he ran towards his starter. "Please Pikachu, tell me you're okay." The world he say froze as he made it to his starter, kneeling down to pick him up. By this time tears began falling from his face as he stared at the unconscious pokemon in his hands. He failed, again.

"Since all six of the challengers pokemon have fainted, I declare the winner Champion Lance!" The referee shouted. The crowd went wild. Ash still looking at the fallen pokemon gritted his teeth. Tears coming out endlessly.

"We told you your pathetic!" Ash lifted his head and saw all his former friend and current friends stood behind the Johto Champion.

"Why couldn't you of given up being a trainer Ash." His mother said tears coming from her eyes. "I can't believe i'm even your mother. You're the reason why he's not with us right now! Because you always fail!" With that his mother left him there. Ash just sat there thinking about every word his mother had said. The one person who always told him to follow your dream. The person who gave you life. The one who got him ready for his next advantage and told him to never give up. His own flesh and blood had just told him to give up. Professor Oak walked towards Ash. Eyes digging holes through his skull.

"I'm very disappointed in you Ash. You always said you were gonna be the best, but it just ended up to be lies. You could just ended up like Gary in your own way. When I heard you left the frontier to pursue this I had expected this to happen. You went from a secure stable job to throwing all the work you did to make it there. If only you weren't from Pallet, then maybe our town wouldn't be called the disgrace of Kanto. Don't ever come back to Pallet again." Oak didn't even bother looking back as he walked away from the broken man. Brock was the next up.

"Ash." He looked up expecting something different. Expected a 'Don't listen to them' or 'We'll get em next time'. SMACK! What he was not expecting was a slap to the face. "How dare you take away my dream of becoming a Pokemon Doctor! Brock shouted in rage. "I had joined you because I thought I could make a living working for the battle frontier. But you, you had to be greedy and go for something that was beyond you! Something that you will never achieve. And look what it did! Put you back where you belong, in the bottom where all the trash should be!" And with that Brock stormed out leave Ash to defend himself from the next person. It had gone on and on. Ash taking in the words of each of his former friends, some of them even spit in his face before going behind the smirking Johto Champion. The crowd above them taunting Ash. Chants started to make their presence know.

"DEGRACE OF PALLET!" The crowd started to chant. Everyone just looked Ash and started to laugh. The master ball around his neck burst open revealing Lugia. He just looked over at his trainer before destroying the pokemon that once held him. ' _I can't believe I allowed myself to think you were the chosen one, destined to be the greatest there ever was. But look at you, you look pathetic. Like you beaten by a new born Pidgey. Someone must of messed up when they chose you to guide us. If someone like you can't be the best then it's clear your not fit to be my trainer.'_ With that Lugia flew away and remorse in his words what so ever.

"You know their right." Ash looked up at the one person he didn't want to hear any of this from.

"Cynthia." Ash whispered. Said person just smirked before giving him a kick to the face. Cheers and taunts erupted from the crowd at watching the disgrace of pallet get what he deserved. "I can't believe you would do something as stupid as to try and take on Lance. He's a much bigger man than you, not to mention he's a actually good at battling.' Ash looked up and the last piece of his heart shattered. The one piece that could of held everything together, split into pieces. Almost as if it evaporated before your eyes. Cynthia was holding on to one of Lance's arms. Looking down at him with such hate that he didn't think she was Cynthia at all. Ash couldn't talk let alone acknowledge anything else happening around him. But Cynthia continued. "Please don't associate yourself with me anymore. You're just making me look bad, you've never had a chance with me. Who do you think I am. One of the top trainers in the world. That would be no way for me to have anything other the best and you're clearly not even close. If anything you're the opposite. Enjoy being in the bottom." Cynthia said sweetly as she leaned into Lance.

"Don't be so down Ash. This match shouldn't even of happened to begin with. An amateur like you would never be at my level so the loss was expected. Think about an ant trying to fight a god. That's exactly like you and me, you never had a chance to begin with. Even by that off-chance thought you'd beat me, i'd never let it happen. If you had become champion, Kanto would have fallen apart. Having a weak trainer control a region like Kanto would send it into the ground. But hey, at least you had the privilege of battling someone like me. Hope that taught you where you stand in the world, don't worry about Cynthia she's in good hands. He gave Ash one final smirk before walking away with Cynthia under his arm.

"Cynthia… No, please." Ash said choking on each word that he attempted to say. But they just kept getting further and further away. "Cynthia I need you, please don't let me go through this again, Arceus please help me." But Ash's voice of deaf ears as they had disappeared from his sight. He dropped to the ground, hand extended in the direction she disappeared. "No! Noo!" He looked to his side. Another reminder that he lost without a chance, Pikachu was still in an unconscious heap on the ground. Ash buried his face into the ground. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
 **  
*Dream end**

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Ash was woken by a thunderbolt that shook him back to reality. Ash immediately sat up, breaths shallow and rapid. It's like the life was sucked out of him and he couldn't get it back. What were seconds felt like minutes as Ash slowly calmed down. Pikachu by his side, looking at his trainer with concern in his eyes.

"What's wrong Ash?" Ash gotten his breathing almost to normal. His heart rate still much higher than normal. He looked at his started remembering the nightmare he had just had.

"I don't wanna talk about it right now Pikachu." Ash said turning his head away from his partner. "Please, tell me what's wrong." Pikachu said tugging on Ash's t-shirt sleeve.

"Pikachu, please let this go for right now. It hurts remembering." Ash said with a sad expression on his face. The electric mouse just sighed. He hates it when his Pikapi looks like this. The last time this happened was when he had lost badly against Paul. So what could of made him act like this. Pikachu's thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and showed Scott.

"Ash." He then got a look at the trainer in front of him. From the looks of this he wasn't gonna be to happy about this. "Usually this is good news but the situation you're in is telling me otherwise."

"Why? What's happening?" Ash said worry in his eyes.

"You've been challenged to a battle."

 **This was a bit late compared to my other chapters. But it's longer than the others... At least i'm pretty sure it is… But ya. Sorry about not revealing the pokemon kinda forgot about it :$ Sorry about that. I thought some drama would be nice to add. What do you all think? Hope the chapter turned out okay. As always favourite and review. Let me know if you want specific things happening, i won't guarantee anything but again new ideas could never hurt. Also i'm probably gonna add mega evolution in. I think that's it for now, hope this chapter satisfied you all. Til next time Peace.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Normal Speech"

'Thought'

' _Telepathy'_

Chapter 8

"Ugh, what time is it?" Ash asked, the dream still playing back in his head. Ash looked at the clock beside him. It was 1pm. "Damn, didn't think i'd sleep in so late." Ash muttered but was still caught by Scott.

"Don't worry about that. Anyway your challenger said he'll give you some time to get ready as he had some errands to run. You have about three hours until he's back so I suggest getting whatever you need done out of the way." Scott said as he gave a wave before leaving Ash's room.

'What a time for me to get a challenger. Oh well, it was bound to happen.' Ash thought as he made his way to the washroom to get his morning rituals out of the way. He thought back to his dream again. He felt several emotions running through him at once. The ones he felt most were anger and sadness. Sadness at the thought of being betrayed again and anger for not being strong enough again. Watching his starter get beat like that was the result of him not being good enough to have such strong pokemon by his side and not being able to use them to their fullest potential. Anger at not being strong enough despite all the work he put in. He thought to himself for a moment, before continuing to the washroom. 'I'll show them all my power.' He thought as he shut the door behind him.

Meanwhile…

Scott was walking down the halls of the battle colosseum. 'What caused Ash to look like that. He just got up, so from that it must of been something he was dreaming about.' Scott was in such deep thought that he didn't notice a certain blonde headed towards him.

"Scott." Said man was broken out of his thoughts as the Sinnoh Champion caught his attention. "Do you remember what room Ash was in? He told me yesterday but i forgot, he was also gonna show me around the Battle Colosseum today." Her features seemed to brightened at mentioning Ash. Scott was thinking about acknowledging her request, but the look Ash had when he saw him made him think otherwise. "Well..?" Deciding to not keep Cynthia waiting any longer decided to answer her question.

"I was just in his room a little while ago. His room as at the end of the hall. He should be in there right now. He seemed to be out of it when i walked in, hopefully the battle coming soon will clear his thoughts." Scott said thoughtfully.  
"Hmm, alright. I guess he should worry about his battle, i can explore a little before watching his battle, when is it?"

"At 4pm, so that gives you three hours to do what you want before his battle starts. It should be a good one. From what I heard the challengers battles were something else. Anyway i have some things i need done so if you need anything don't hesitate to ask." With that Scott walked away leaving Cynthia to her thoughts.

'Awww, I was really hoping he'd take me around the colosseum.' Cynthia let a out a loud sigh. 'Oh well, guess it can't be helped. Might as well see if he wants to have a late lunch before he gets ready.' Cynthia thought as she made her way towards Ash's room. 'I wonder what pokemon he'll use. I haven't seen him in an official battle since Unova so i'm sure he's improved a lot.' She had made it to Ash's room... At least she hope she did. Taking a look a around just to be sure this was the end of the hall. 'Hopefully he'll say yes.' She thought as she turned the knob on the door. What awaited her inside was not was she was expecting. What was revealed to her was a half naked Ash only covered by a towel. From the looks of it he was just about to take the towel off. "Umm… Uh… I…" All she could do was stand there shocked, looking over at Ash. 'Wow that training he did worked wonders.' Cynthia thought looking over Ash's body, a bit of a nose bleed beginning to make itself known. "Sorry!" She yelled as she slammed the door and ran like her life depended on it. Minutes later she found herself leaning against the wall trying to calm herself down from the predicament she had put herself through. 'As much as I enjoyed that, I should apologize for just barging in there like there. After all, if he did that to me his life would of ended at that point...' Cynthia thought. 'Hope he's not mad.'

Ash just looked towards the door blinking a few times before getting dressed. It's not like he wasn't embarrassed, but he was too focused on his battle coming up that he didn't really care about the situation that had just occurred. 'Hope things don't get awkward from this.' Ash though slipping his jacket on. 'I still need to show her around the colosseum after all. I wonder what kind of challenge my opponent will bring.' His mind wandered to his dream, being thrown away again. Ash's eyes darkened at the thought. He'll show them his power. And nothing is going to stop him from destroying his opponent, that he will guarantee. His thoughts became darker and darker but was eventually broken by a pokemon materializing beside him. His Gardevoir made her presence known.

'Master, please calm down.' The embrace pokemon put both her hands on Ash's head. They began glowing a soft blue color as Ash's breathing began to slow down. Ash's eye locked with Gardevoir before he came her a small smile.

"Thank you, I don't know what i'd do without you sometimes." Ash said returning Gardevoir to her ball before continuing to go meet with his pokemon. 'I should introduce the new pokemon I got. I almost forgot about them. Maybe with a bit of work I could use one or two of them in my battle coming up.' Ash pulled a piece of paper that was in his pocket. It was the list of pokemon traded to him.

Absol, Flygon, Altaria (Shiny), Milotic (Shiny), Scizor, Aggron, Kadabra, Shinx, Dragonair, Lucario (Shiny), Espeon, Umbreon, Salamence, Houndour, Tyrantrum, Fraxure, Hydreigon, Froslass, Chandelure, Luxray, Gengar, Gyarados, Electivire, Magmortar, Rhyperior, Skarmory, Roserade (Shiny), Metang, Braviary, Mismagius.

"Wow, that's an impressive list." Ash said to himself. 'Maybe I can use Salamence and Umbreon then have some of the other more experienced pokemon as back up.' Ash had a lot of experienced pokemon under his belt so choosing which ones would be tough. At the Battle Colosseum challengers get to decide the type of battling format. Whether that be one on one, two on two, etc. They can also decide if the battle is single, double or triple. 'Maybe I shouldn't get too overconfident and use pokemon i haven't trained yet. I mean I do have three hours so I could see which ones i'd be able to use.'

Ash looked up and saw that he'd already made it to the ranch that held his pokemon. "Pikachu, round up the others. Were going to introduce everyone." With a nod the little mouse pokemon shot a thunderbolt into the sky. Within a couple minutes all his pokemon were now in front of him, excited to hear what their trainer had to say. "Okay guys, we have some new members so give them a nice welcoming. Various noises in agreement were heard as Ash released all that pokemon he had gotten. Ash turned to his new pokemon. "Okay guys, I'm Ash and this is your new home. Don't be afraid to introduce yourselves to the others. We'll get to know each other for a bit before we start training. I've got a challenger, so I've decided that if any of you meet my expectations you may be able to battle." He then turned to the others. "Don't worry if you don't get to battle today, when the tournament comes, i'll be sure to try and make sure each of you battles." Various cries and roars were heard in response. "Good, i'll be getting to know the others. If you feel that you want to start training now, you can but make sure you greet everyone first." And with that Ash started interacting with his new pokemon.

About an hour later, Ash had been able to get a talk with each of his new pokemon. He was really disappointed with some of the stories his new pokemon told him. How some of them were abused and how others didn't like their previous trainer. 'How come trainers never think about how the pokemon feel. Trading the pokemon away isn't the answer to everything.' Ash let out a sigh, he'll have to have a deeper talk with some of the pokemon after the battle. His thoughts were cut his he felt like he was being examined. He turned his attention to his newly acquired Lucario. Both trainer and pokemon's eyes were locked with each other. After a few minutes Lucario decided to break the silence.

' _Your aura, is very powerful. I've never felt one so strong. Did you know of your ability to use it?'_

Taking a moment to think, Ash thought it would be a good idea to tell Lucario everything he knew.  
' _Yes, I've known of my powers for a while but didn't think it'd be such a big deal let alone so strong.'  
_  
' _I see.'_ Lucario examined Ash for a moment before looking him in the eyes again. ' _If I may just make a request master.'  
_  
' _Of course and Lucario i'm your friend and partner, not your master.'_ Ash said smiling.

' _Thank you master, your work truly enlightens me.'_

' _Lucario… My name is Ash.'_

' _Thank you, Master Ash.'_

'...' Ash gave his pokemon a deadpan look while Pikachu just laughed at his friend, clearly amused by what's happening. 'Anyway what's your request Lucario.'

' _I'd to help you control your aura.'_ Lucario gave Ash a serious look before continuing. ' _Your aura is far too strong, not having any control of your aura can be catastrophic. I got a feel of your aura and it fluctuates quite often. I could be wrong but did something traumatic happen to you master?'_ Thinking back to when his friends betrayed him, Ash's body took started to glow a reddish aura. Lucario's eyes widened at seeing his trainer in such a state. He quickly began to create an aura sphere. Pikachu's cheeks began to spark at seeing the attack begin to charge.

'Don't get in the way, that aura around him is very dangerous. I do not wish to harm him. I will take care of this.' Pikachu began to calm down as he took a look at his trainer. His Pikapi's aura was a very light shade of red and he didn't have his usual facial expression. Standing before him was a completely different person. But before he had anytime to think his trainer, Lucario slammed the sphere into Ash's abdomen. The sphere was colorless, just a transparent ball being slammed into Ash. You can see the red aura being forcibly pushed out of his body. Ash's body began falling to the ground, fortunately Lucario caught him. ' _You need to start training your mind so you can control your aura. Has this happened to you a lot?'  
_  
' _I'm not sure, i just thought back to when my friends betrayed me and it was the only thing i could think of. Next thing i know, i feel my energy being drained from my body.'_ Ash said now standing on his own.

' _If you don't mind i'd like to be out of my ball to monitor you in case something like that happens again.'_ Ash gave him a nod. ' _Thank you master, I swear i'll do everything i can to help.'_ Ash's body twitched at being called master again, but thanked him nevertheless.

'I think it's about time I meet my opponent.' Ash then started to make his way to the arena.

'Man, that was intense. You okay Lucario, Pikachu?' Both his pokemon gave him a nod. 'Good, because i'd like both of you to be 100 percent when this battle starts.

'Wait, master are you allowing me to battle? I mean after all we haven't done much training yet.' Lucario asked surprised that his trainer is letting him battle and in an official one no less.

'Of course, I believe i can trust your skills and that it's only fair since you helped me out. And what did I say about calling me master.' Ash said with a smile on his face.

Lucario was speechless, he didn't think he'd be battling so soon. But now that he is, he will not let his master down. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a new voice.

'I'm surprised that you'd be late for your own battle, then again I guess it's you after all…'

Ash looked up, His eyes widened looking at the person in front of him. It's been quite long since he's seen him 'Ahh, Ash. Don't worry about being late. Just make sure it doesn't keep happening. Anyway Ash this will be your opponent.' Scott said. A big smile on his face. Ash's smile had begun to make it's presence known, he couldn't wait to see how much he's improved.

"It's been a while… Paul"  
 **  
Hey friends, it's been a while. I've been doing some stuff and didn't really find any time to write this. Working full time and stuff like that, so this story was quite low on the priority list. Anyways not sure how much time i'm going to be putting into this story. It is fun to write every now and then. Hope my grammar isn't too bad but bare with me on that one. Even though I haven't been writing too much I appreciate a lot of the comments i've received and hopefully I won't keep you guys waiting too long this time. But again things happen. I'll try to make the next chapter more fast pace for you guys. Thanks for all the support 3**


End file.
